Ronin
by NHunter
Summary: Naruto, after yet another attack decides to leave Konoha for good. He travels to the east, ending in the Water country, and by some chance he meets Terumi family there... Naruto/Kagerou/Mei/Akasha Bloodriver. Warnings inside. M-rated.
1. from Fire to Water

Hello, everyone, I'm here with a new story and per poll's results (204 out of 452 votes) it will have Naruto U. / Mei T. as its pairing, though, for an odd reason I feel like Kagerou Fuuma should be a part of the pairing too. So, there is a good chance of story becoming Naruto U. / Kagerou F. / Mei T. ... Well, anyway, I hope you will find this story to your liking, despite it being more than a little dark in the beginning...

Let's start!

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**Title**: Ronin**  
Author**: NHunter aka N.H. aka 夜狩猟家 aka 灰色天使**  
Genre**: General, Adventure**  
Rating**: M = NC-17**  
Characters**: Naruto/Mei, maybe Naruto/Kagerou/Mei for main pairing and almost every character from manga, some anime filler characters, possible appearance of major OC**  
Warnings**: AU, OOC, ronin Naruto, future lemons with possible threesomes, violence, torture and more...**  
Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own Naruto or its characters.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings**_'

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*** Jutsu list**:  
**Suiton: suiryuudan** - (B-rank) water style: water dragon projectile - dragon head made from water strikes the target.  
**Katon: kasumi engo** - (B-rank) fire style: mist waltz - user creates a large cloud of combustible mist.  
**Katon: karyuu endan** - (B-rank) fire style: fire dragon flame - user exhales a long stream of fire.  
**Doton: tetsu otome** - (A-rank) earth style: iron maiden - a jutsu of my creation. It was inspired by one of the medieval torture/killing methods, hence the name.  
**Raiton: moyasu denkou** - (B-rank) lightning style: burning lightning - another jutsu of my creation. User creates an arc of electricity and sends it into target. If the target is a living thing, the jutsu will burn its nerve system, possibly beyond any hopes of repair.

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**Ronin  
chapter 1: from Fire to Water**

Five years old little blond boy with three whisker-like marks in each his cheek ducked into one of the smaller alleys behind the market place. Behind him there were four ANBU ninja, who were throwing small jutsu – not to damage the village – kunai and shuriken at the blond, and only his heightened senses and speed with agility saved Naruto, that was blond's name, from being killed.

"Stay still, demon!" Oh, yes, Naruto was the hated container of the mighty Kyuubi no Yoko... One of the ANBU threw another kunai at the boy, who almost dodged, getting only a scratch on his shoulder, that healed several seconds later... The chase exited the alley and approached the hot springs. When they ran just past the fence, another ANBU, without stopping running flashed trough handseals.

"**Suiton: suiryuudan!**" A dragon head attached to a long neck made from water rose from behind the fence, accompanied by loud screams of girls that were at the hot springs. The dragon homed at its target and, no matter how much Naruto tried to evade it, the water jutsu hit him on his back, knocking the little blond into the tree.

"Good work, Osprey." Another ANBU, the one with a tiger mask, said. "Now we can have our revenge for what this demon did to the village!"

"Tiger-taicho!" The third ANBU, this one with a lizard mask, called. "I have a new fire jutsu I wanted to test. Can we take this scum out of the village and burn him there?" 'Tiger' thought about it. He too, after all, had a couple of jutsu he wanted to try on an alive subject.

"Let's do it." He said finally. "We will show this demon what Konoha is made of!" Naruto, who regained conscious by now, tried to run away again, but before he could make it even a meter away from the tree, he got a roundhouse kick to his back, that pretty much broke his spine. 'Lizard' picked the downed blond and tied him with a thin wire than would cut the boy if he tried to move.

"Let's go, taicho." The four ANBU made through the village, parading their catch to the people and getting cheered at every step. Naruto, who was conscious, would have cried at this injustice of the world, but he ran out of tears years ago with the way Konoha populace – except for the old man Hokage, a couple of ANBU – 'Itachi' and 'Cat' – who were out of the village on their missions today and Teuchi and Ayame at the ramen stand – treated him...

* * *

The four ANBU with their captive entered a small clearing about four miles away from the village walls. 'Lizard' shoved Naruto into the tree roughly, while 'Osprey' and 'Baboon' pushed kunai through little blond's hands, nailing him to the tree, making the boy cry in pain. Then they did the same to his feet, crucifying the boy, before the three of them backed into the line at which 'Tiger' was standing.

"Any last words, demon?" The tiger-masked ANBU asked. Naruto remained silent: he learned it hard way that if he adjured for the torture to stop or even asked why they were doing to him, it only got longer and more painful. "Oh, well. Let's start, guys. Why don't you go first, Lizard?" The said ANBU nodded and and performed a sequence of handseals.

"**Katon: kasumi engo!**" Then he exhaled a gray mist that enveloped Naruto, making the blond cough when he accidentally breathed it in. "I think it works..." The ANBU mumbled to himself, while doing handseals for another jutsu. "**Katon: karyuu endan!**" And now he exhaled a stream of fire. When the fire touched the mist, there was a powerful explosion. When he smoke cleared, the ANBU smiled seeing that Naruto was burnt badly and was bleeding from his ears, nose and mouth.

"Did you like that, demon?" 'Tiger' asked. Naruto, who had his ears damage, couldn't even hear him. "Now it's my turn. Everyone, step back!" The tiger-masked ANBU flashed through handseals. "**Doton: tetsu otome!**" Two halves of hollow metallic statue rose on the sides of Naruto. Then the halves closed up around the blond. Then there was a sound of metal piercing flesh coming from inside the statue. For several next seconds there was silence, before the statue disappeared back into the ground, leaving wounded and bleeding Naruto still crucified on the tree. "What do you say guys, shall we finish the Kyuubi?"

"Wait a moment, tiger-taicho." 'Baboon' said. He came up to the blond boy and stuck his kunai between Naruto's legs, making him let out a silent scream. "Now we can continue." 'Baboon' said, returning to his comrades.

"We were going to kill it anyway, why did you do this?" 'Osprey' asked. 'Baboon' shrugged.

"I just wanted the demon to suffer as much as it can." The osprey-masked ANBU nodded. "Now, let's finish it." He flashed through handseals. "**Raiton: moyasu denkou!**" A powerful surge of electricity flowed from his hands and into Naruto's body, slowly frying blond's nerves. Then Naruto's heart faulted and the boy succumbed to the darkness... When the jutsu ended, 'Tiger' checked the boy.

"It's heart stopped." He said. "We killed it! We are the heroes of Konoha!" And four ANBU left the clearing.

* * *

The Kyuubi was woken from its sleep in the cage that was its prison from the feeling of it's container dying. Of course, nothing could really kill the demon of such level: it will reform after a decade or so. But still, the Kyuubi didn't fancy meeting the Shinigami again this soon. So, it decided to save its container. With the small amount of its yoki, the bijuu checked the damage its prison got. It wasn't happy with what it learned: almost entire skin of the boy had second and third degree burns and multiple pierced wounds; his lungs too were burnt; eardrums were destroyed as were middle ears; boy's nerves were fried and his spine was damaged heavily; boy's reproductive system was severed and, finally, the boy's heart stopped.

"**Stupid ningens.**" The Kyuubi seeped more of its yoki into boy's body, restarting his heart and diaphragm and forcing the wounds on his lungs close up. After that was done, the nine-tailed fox started healing other, less dangerous wounds... Finally, after several hours of hard work, the Kyuubi managed to heal everything but the less significant burns and wounds. It was time for the boy to return to the conscious: all this healing took a lot out of his body and without food and water, Naruto would die soon.

"A-a-a-ah..." The blond moaned as he opened his eyes. He felt that his body was mostly healed, like it happened with all his wounds before. He was still crucified on the tree, with his clothes completely burnt away, and he could feel strange energy flowing through his body, making him believe that he could free himself.

"**You, bag of flesh, free yourself and find food and water.**" Low demonic voice boomed in his head, making the little boy freak out. "**Do as I say, you, hairless monkey, or you will die!**" Naruto felt the energy in his body spike, and ripped his left hand free. Using it, he ripped other kunai from his body, starting with those that were in his feet and between his legs, crying in pain each time the blade moved through his flesh. "**Now, take these knives with you. You will need them.**" Naruto, who could feel his wounds close, nodded.

'_Who are you?_' He asked, wanting to know, who was helping him.

"**I'm great and powerful Kyuubi the nine-tailed demon!**" The voice in his head boomed. "**Do not be mistaken, you, bag of flesh, I don't care about you, but I'm stuck in your gut, and I don't want to meet Shinigami yet.**" The blond boy freaked out again: he had the strongest demon inside him! But the Kyuubi cut this line of thoughts from him. "**You will need to find water and catch something to eat, monkey. You body needs food to continue living, something I'm interested in right now.**" With his hands shaking, Naruto picked five bloodied kunai from the ground.

'_T-Thank you, anyway._' He thought, making the demon laugh, but it did no further comments, till Naruto came across a rabbit who was drinking a water from a small stream. With the instructions from the Kyuubi, Naruto managed to kill the critter.

"**Skin it and eat it as it is. I will heal you from illnesses you may catch. You need food right now.**" The Kyuubi told to its container. "**Then drink water.**" Eating raw meat wasn't good, but Naruto had no choice, so he ate the whole rabbit. Then he drank as much water from the stream as he could. "**Now find yourself a safe place to sleep and rest. I will finish healing you, flesh bag!**" Naruto did as the Kyuubi said, settling for the night in a big hollow in an old tree...

/ ***** **\

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of the Konohagakure no Sato was distracted from his fight with the most evil enemy of every leader – paperwork – by a fireworks all over the village. The aged Hokage looked at the calendar, but today wasn't any holiday, so he couldn't see the reason for the fireworks. So he called his secretary. He noticed that the woman seemed to be very happy for some reason, much happier than she was in the morning.

"Masako-san, can you tell, what is the reason for all these fireworks?" The Hokage asked.

"Hokage-sama, you haven't heard? The Kyuubi was finally killed today!" The secretary said happily, but her words didn't have the reaction on the aged leader she expected: Sarutobi's face darkened, and started radiating killing intent so powerful that it made everyone within a mile from the Hokage tower feel it.

"Naruto-kun..." The man whispered, before upping his KI even more. "Bring _the heroes_ here." His words were cold and promising those who were responsible for his loss a slow painful death. "I will personally deal with them." ...That evening Konoha ANBU forces lost four its men to the Hokage's wrath... And civilian part of the council got smaller too...

/ ***** **\

Naruto spent about a month in the forest, slowly walking away form Konoha as he didn't want to return to that place, even if all five of his precious people we there. He was feeding on different small critters he was killing with kunai he had or wild fruits and berries, and drinking water from various lakes, rivers and water streams he came across. Finally he exited the forest and reached a small village. Deciding that he could get some food and clothes – his old were irreparably ruined the day he was 'killed'. He cautiously approached the village, in case these people will try to kill him too.

"Oh dear, what a poor boy!" An old woman who was tending a herd of sheep exclaimed as she saw Naruto. The boy immediately froze, but moment later hid in the small ravine. The woman sighed and slowly approached the place where he was hiding. The boy tried to hide deeper, but quickly found himself in the corner.

"Don't hurt me! I did nothing back!" He cried in fear. The woman even did a step back, raising her eyebrows.

"Why would I hurt you, dear? Sure, you are dirty and naked and wounded..." She was referring to a fresh bruises the Kyuubi hasn't taken care of yet. "...but to hurt you for that? No." Naruto relaxed a little – maybe they didn't know about him here. "Come out, dear." The blond boy shook his head. "Fine. I will bring you food and some clothes I have from my grandson here." And she disappeared from Naruto's field of view. Twenty minutes later she returned with simple bread and old woolen clothes. Naruto accepted them, carefully looking for any traps.

* * *

For the next five days Naruto lived in the ravine next to the village. The old woman brought him food every day, and he was thankful for that, but in the end, the little blond decided to leave this place – who knows, someone from Konoha may come here and try to kill him again... In these five days he learned that he was in about seventy miles away from the eastern coast of the Fire country and one of the port cities. Naruto headed there, hoping to infiltrate one of the merchant ships and get as far away from Konoha on it as he could... It took Naruto a week to reach the city, but now, that he had some clothes, he could move around other people more safely, passing as another local orphan. Slipping past samurai guard into the merchant section of the port was quite easy with his skill, and now little Naruto was walking in the warehouse with large crates of canned food.

"To... the... wa-ter co-u-nrty." He read slowly as reading was something he taught himself to survive in Konoha. Deciding that anything was better that the Hidden Leaf, he crawled into one of the crates which had one of planks missing and fell asleep.

* * *

When Naruto woke up, he was already in the hold of the ship and in the open sea, judging by the tossing. Not wanting to be thrown into the sea, Naruto spent day after day in the hold, eating the food from the crate, opening cans with kunai he still had with him, and drinking water that was in glass bottles in the other crate... The ship sailed for a couple of weeks – not that Naruto could tell that in the dark hold he was in – before it finally reached the Water country...

* * *

Again on the solid ground, Naruto ran away from the town where the port was into the local forest. He was walking through the forests for weeks, again eating critters he killed and wild berries and fruits and drinking any water he could find. About seven weeks later, he came across a clearing where a girl with long red hair of about fourteen years old with no hitae-ate was training, using some jutsu that made lava. Suddenly, a man of about thirty-five years old with auburn hair and short beard, too with no hitae-ate, entered the clearing.

"Mei-chan!" He shouted, attracting girls attention. "Run and hide! I can sense a chuunin hiding there, and he isn't one of us." The girl nodded and disappeared. The man drew his ninja-to. "Come out, Mizukage's scum." Naruto thought trough his options. He could run away, but the man was obviously a ninja, and strong one, so there was a good chance that he will him him. On the other hand, he could come out and hope that won't be killed. Deciding that the second option was better, Naruto walked into the clearing... When the man saw only a boy of five, maybe six, years old in dirty and torn clothes, he thought that this was a joke. But he couldn't sense a henge over the boy, nor there were any illusions placed on him. And the chakra signature he thought to be chuunin's was actually boy's. The fact that such a young boy could already possess so big chakra reserves made him almost drop his sword... Naruto saw the man disappear from his view, and moment later his kunai were gone from his body and his hands were bound behind his back. "You will come with me, boy, and god help you if you are a spy." The man stated from behind Naruto's back, before he picked him up roughly and carried to the village.

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_**to be continued...**_

Love it? Hate it? Leave me a **review**. And if someone wants to beta-read this story, I'll be very thankful.

And for those who are interested, I published several new challenges: Naruto U.-N./Mito U.-S. and Naruto/raikage's attendant being a couple of them. Interested? Go to my profile for the details on these or other my challenges. -NHunter


	2. Terumi family

Hello! Here's the second chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story! Enjoy, folks!

*** Review response**:**  
Hakkyou no Yami**,** Hellcleaner**, **dragon00nick**, **Dark Hearted Dragon's Master**, **RasenShuriken92**, **god of all**, **The Elemental Dragon Emperor**, **Lycan91**, **ChaosKid0**, **acepro Evolution**, **Celestial Indigo**, **Reishin Amara**, thank you!  
**pentupfury**, I do not plan on bringing Naruto withing twenty miles from the Konoha's village walls. Ever. Though at least one of Konoha ninja will spend some years with the blond (guess who? Too bad, nothing original there), as well as Sarutobi will eventually learn that Naruto is alive _somewhere_.**  
Wyrtha**, I might disappoint you with Mei's family - they won't be alive for long in the story...  
**bleacher**, thank you, though, I will agree with **pentupfury**: it's a bit too early to judge the story right now.  
**DarkFox2**, Naruto will be trained by many people...**  
ChaosLord SilverLink310**, Mmm... you guessed right. As for the rebellion forces... Naruto will leave Water country for some time before he actually joins rebels (not knowing,who one of their leaders is and not meeting her (Mei) before she's nominated as Godaime Mizukage).  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, with how much Konoha hates the Kyuubi, 'demon hunts' should have been something within normal for the village... Though I might really went a bit too far with Naruto's ability to survive anything (almost) ENTIRE NINJA VILLAGE throws at him.  
**RE5 forever**, thank you, and I answered your question about "_**KYS**_" via review reply.

*** AN**: I'm starting a poll for the main pairing of the story:  
Naruto U. / Mei T. only (1 vote from the reviews so far)  
Naruto U. / Mei T. + Kagerou F. as _their _sex friend (1 vote from reviews so far)  
Kagerou F. / Naruto U. / Mei T. threesome (2 votes from reviews so far)

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**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own Naruto or its characters.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings**_'

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Special thanks to _**Arch Zell**_ for beta-reading the story

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**chapter 2: Terumi family**

Naruto was brought to a small village. There only five houses, a stable with a barn and blacksmiths. He was thrown into an empty room in the biggest house and left there with no food or water for the night. He was woken up early in the morning and brought to another room for questioning. In that room, other than the man who caught him, there were two other males, one of which, the large one, which had a war hammer, and a woman, an older version of that Mei girl he saw training, with a katana on her back. After he was tied to a chair, the questioning started.

"What is your name, boy?" The man with the hammer asked.

"N-Naruto." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki answered. Man scowled. "Naruto U-zu... U... I don't remember." That was true as Naruto was either called by his first name, or referred to as 'demon' or something like that... The man raised his hammer in a threatening manner, but was stopped by the woman.

"Hiro, stop! We need him to be alive to find out who he is. And he is just a kid. A kid who spent weeks in the forest, judging by his looks." The man sighed and lowered his hammer. "Now, Naruto, where are your parents?"

"I always was alone. Not even an orh.. orphanage... wanted me." Naruto answered. Another orphan.

"And what were you doing spying on my daughter?" The woman asked next.

"I was traveling through the forest to find some safe place and heard someone... her... training. She had no ...protector, and... I want to be ninja..." The woman raised her eyebrow.

"You want to be safe, yet you want to be ninja?"

"My village always tried to... harm or kill me. But, the ninjas I saw were all so cool, I want to be like them, so..." The woman reluctantly nodded at Naruto's answer. The man, who caught him yesterday, asked the next question.

"And what village are you from, boy?" The young jinchuuriki's eyes widened in fear.

"Don't send me back there!" He yelled, trying to free himself form his bounds. And only when each of the four people questioning him promised that they will not send him back to that village, Naruto answered. "Konoha." Many eyebrows rose at that statement of his: usually Konoha was thought to be the most peaceful and welcoming of all big shinobi villages, so learning that they tried to kill a five years old boy for years was a shock.

"Why were they trying to kill you?" The woman asked.

"T-They say I... I killed lots of people, but... I don't remember killing anyone... And they call me demon for some reason..." Actually, Naruto wasn't stupid. Surviving against the entire shinobi village required him to have a sharp mind. So, now, having the Kyuubi speak to him, he understood, that the demon somehow was connected to him, most likely through that strange sign on his stomach, and the people saw the Kyuubi instead of him he understood that he wasn't the demon too. But Naruto wasn't going to tell these people his guesses what if they were the same?..

"He looks normal to me, even if his abnormally large chakra reserves for his age." The man, who caught him said almost absentmindedly. "What do you know about the Mizukage, boy?" He asked then. For several seconds Naruto had a puzzled expression on his face.

"Hokage ...rules Konoha... Mizukage rules some other village?" The blond boy asked.

"Yes. Mizukage is the supreme ninja of the Hidden Mist village. However, several month ago he decided to purge the land of water from anyone who has a bloodline. Right now the civil war that started because of that is still a bit inert, but it will only get worse form now... " The woman explained.

"Ano... Bloodlines are cool. Itachi-nii had those cool red eyes..." Naruto again made the people who questioned him raise their eyebrows in surprise. They were 'on the run', hiding in the forests of Water country, but they still heard about the boy from Uchiha clan who became Konoha jounin before he hit his puberty. That boy was Itachi. But Naruto didn't look like he was Uchiha.

"Is he your brother or something?" The man with the hammer asked.

"No... He just treated me nice." Was the young jinchuuriki's answer.

"So, boy, you have nothing to do with the Mizukage?" The woman asked then. Naruto shook his head.

"Never seen him." All four of his interrogators nodded to each other and walked into the corner of the room. They discussed something rather heatedly for several minutes, before coming up to the blond boy.

"We decided that you are not the spy of the Mizukage." The woman said. "We will let you go now. And if you want, you even can stay in our village, we wouldn't mind another pair of hands and it's quite dangerous to be traveling now since the civilian war started. Plus Tamao..." She looked at the man who caught Naruto. "...thinks that you can be a help to our village in case Mizukage decides to send a killer team after us, if we train you." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki nodded. Why he didn't believe these people not to kill him if they learned about the demon in his gut, they proposed to teach him how to be a ninja... Naruto was thinking, whether he should stay in the village, at least for some time, to return to the forests right away. Finally, his desire to be 'cool ninja' won.

"C-Can I stay with you?" He asked, hoping for the best. The man, Tamao, nodded slowly.

"Yes, you can stay with my family. You will be looking after chickens and goats, and of you prove to be reliable enough, I may teach you how to mold chakra or something." He said, untying Naruto. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki nodded... "We don't have much room, so you'll have to sleep in the basement." Naruto was happy, as he usually slept outdoors in ditches, big bushes, hollows and the likes. "Oh, and I'm Tamao Terumi. That is my beautiful wife Kohaku." He said, referring to the woman with katana. "And I believe, you have already seen my daughter, Mei." The man paused for a moment. "The man with the war hammer is Hiro Takuma. He's a blacksmith. And, finally, there is Menou. He's a lumber." Naruto nodded, trying to memorize the names of the people in the room. "Welcome to our small village, Naruto." Tamao added.

~/ ***** **\~

It was about the middle of autumn now and Naruto was already living with Terumi family for three weeks now. As they said, he was looking after their goats and chickens. Tamao also took it upon himself to teach the Kyuubi jinchuuriki how to read and write properly, and, to his surprise, Naruto was quite good at both for his age. The little blond also became friends with Mei. The teenage girl often played ninja with him, honing her tracking skills and awareness against his stealth. So, starting from today, Tamao decided to start teaching the boy how to be shinobi: with the chakra reserves the boy possessed, he could be quite a protector for the village in a couple of years.

"Naruto-kun, when you are done milking the goats, I want you to come with me." The man shouted to the blond jinchuuriki who was in the stables.

"Yes, Tamao-san." The blond boy shouted back. He was milking the last goat anyway... When he was done, he brought the milk into the house and gave it to Kohaku, before going to where Tamao was waiting for him. He found the man to be in his full ninja gear. "What did you want, Tamao-san?" Naruto asked.

"You've proven to be a great help to my family, so I decided to teach you how to use chakra." The man was instantly afraid the the boy will have his face split in two with that smile.

"You're the best, Tamao-san!" The man nodded.

"Now, let us start." He waited for Naruto to calm down somewhat. "First thing, I want you to try to sense an energy inside your body. It should feel cool, most likely, like a mist or wind, but with the amount I sense in you, yours can feel like a water... If you do this handseal..." Tamao brought his hands into the ran seal. "...The task may be easier." The little jinchuuriki nodded and copied the handseal with his hands, before closing his eyes and concentrating... About ten seconds later first 'flames' of chakra started appearing around his body, signifying that the boy was close. Then these 'flames' turned into the damn pyre for a moment. Then it all died down, and Naruto opened his eyes.

"I felt something, Tamao-sensei." He saw the man nod.

"Yes, Naruto-kun, you just felt your chakra. And on the first try no less." The little blond beamed at the praise. "Are you tired?" Tamao asked, having Naruto shook his head as an answer.

"A bit winded." The man raised his eyebrow for a moment, surprised by boy's stamina, but then nodded.

"In that case, since you know how your chakra feels, you will start learning how to control it and move it through your body. This is much harder, so don't be upset if you don't manage it even in a month." Tamao said... True to his words, Naruto failed to show even a bit of improvement there, before the man called it the day and sent the blond boy to tend the family's animals.

Naruto mastered first steps of chakra control and moving chakra within his body by the beginning of the winter. Unlike Konoha and the Fire country, winters in the Water country were exactly that: winters, cold and windy, with snow falling from the sky. Naruto's training was moved indoors and now Tamao and Mei were teaching the blond boy basics of jiujitsu in one of the empty rooms of the house. Despite his young body, Naruto was actually doing quite good there. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki was also introduced to the leaf-balancing exercise, to help build chakra control, with his, constantly growing, reserves the earlier was the better...

It was a middle of February, when Tamao decided to up Naruto's chakra control exercises, seeing as the boy's reserves were now upper chuunin, maybe even lower jounin, level.

"Naruto-kun. Today I will show you new exercise." The head, and the only male, of the Terumi family said. "It is called 'tree-climbing' exercise among ninja." Tamao walked up to the wall and put his foot on it, applying chakra to stick it to the wall. Then he put his second foot and started walking up the wall. "This is what you will have to do." Naruto, who was watching the man in awe, nodded. "You will need to channel your chakra to your feet. If you use not enough, you will fall down. If you use too much, you will be launched from the wall and will fall down too. You will have this exercise mastered only when you can walk on any solid vertical surface without thinking about it." Naruto nodded again. "Now you can try, I will go help Mei-chan with her advanced taijutsu."

"Hai, Tamao-sensei." And the blond jinchuuriki started trying to walk the wall... It took him several hours, but he managed to walk around the room on the walls. Sure, he needed to concentrate on the task all the time, but it still felt like a great success.

~/ ***** **\~

"Hey, Tamao, you know what I've heard?" Menou said to his neighbor, as two males were building additional room for Terumi family's chicken. "There are rumors flying around that the entire Kaguya clan was killed when then decided to attack Kiri." It was the end of April and Naruto was again training outdoors, and thus eavesdropped the conversation of the adults.

"It is bad. If Mizukage was killing bloodline holders before, it will turn into massacre now. We need to finish the village wall soon, if we want to continue living here." Tamao replied.

"And what about your apprentice, Naruto?" The lumber asked.

"Menou! He is what? Six? Seven?" It was true, that the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was now about seven years old by looks now that the demon inside him no longer had to fight for his life, it started advancing blond's growth, so that 'it' could be strong again sooner. "He may hold his ground against weaker genin, but that's his limit for now. What do expect him to do with seven months of training? Defeating Mizukage's armies?"

"Hey, Naru-chan?" The little boy stopped listening to adults and turned around to look at Mei. "Wanna go to the forest to train?" The red-haired teen girl asked. Naruto nodded eagerly as he liked forests, but Tamao never allowed him to train there unsupervised.

"Yeah, let's go, Mei-chan." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki answered.

"Pa, we'll be training in the forest!" Mei called. After Tamao nodded that he heard her, she and Naruto went to train into the woods.

* * *

Mei looked up into the sky. From what she could read from there, it was now close to six in the evening. The redhead looked at little Naruto who was sitting against the tree, relaxing after one of their hide and seek in ninja style games.

"Ma would be angry, if we're late to dinner. Let's go, Naru-chan." The blond boy nodded and rose onto their feet... They were halfway back to the village, when Naruto's senses picked a smell of smoke. Looking up, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki saw through the treetops clouds of gray smoke rising above the village.

"Something's wrong, Mei-chan. It looks like the village's on fire." The teenage girl nodded, and the two of them changed their way to the village to a safer one. When they exited the forest, they finally could see what happened. Unfortunately, Naruto was right. The village was on fire. Actually, it was burning out already. "I'll go see what happened." The little blond said.

"But..." The redhead protested.

"Who's better at stealth?" Mei nodded uneasily and Naruto slipped into the village. All buildings were burning out or already burnt, and as he could see no one from the village, the young jinchuuriki assumed that it was an attack. His suspicions were proven correct when he entered the Terumi house's yard. There on spikes were the heads of all the villagers. Completely forgetting about stealth, Naruto ran back to Mei, but before he could make it to the walls, he was surrounded by four ninja in dark-blue clothes. All of them had Hidden Mist's hitae-ates.

"Die, dirty blood scum!" The tall man yelled, thrusting the spear he had in his arms through Naruto's chest. By sheer luck, the spear didn't pierce boy's heart, only damaging the blood vessels around it and his left lung.

"Should we burn him too?" Another ninja of the Mist asked.

"Nah, the ravens want some food." The first one answered and the whole cell laughed.

* * *

For the bushes where she sat with her chakra signature suppressed, Mei saw what Kiri shinobi did. And she too understood what happened in the village...

'_Ma... Pa... Naru-chan... Hiro-san... Menou-san... I will grow strong and avenge you all! That scum of the Mizukage will die from my hand!_' She promised, more to herself, while trying to hold the tears back. Then she ran back into forest silently, trying to get from this, now awful, place away...

* * *

Naruto regained conscious when it was nearing the morning. The spear in his chest was damn hurting, but with the strength the Kyuubi granted him to ensure their continued existence, he ripped it out of himself. The demon immediately started healing the wound, while its container looked around. He was alone. If you don't count several forest carrion eaters who were feeding on dead villagers. Since he was alone, Naruto assumed the worst, that everyone, including Mei-chan were dead. So, by the sunrise, when his wound was sufficiently healed by the Kyuubi, the blond ran away into the forests, not wanting to spend any more time where his 'family' was killed.

* * *

That's all folks! Leave me a **review**!


	3. Above the clouds

Hello everyone, here's the newest chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story for your entertainment.

*** Review response**:  
**Hakkyou no Yami**, not very soon. Well, they'll meet in a couple of chapter, but they will not know that it's them until after the war end. ^_^  
**Sephieroth**, it happens sometimes.  
**nobother**, **Volos**, **RasenShuriken92**, **Sefirot**, **Wyrtha**, **bumike99**, **Ymere**, **pentupfury**, **Umbra8191**, **fuuinkami**, **RandomAmazingness**, **kyuubi27**, thank you!  
**OverLordRevan**, sorry, no toads. Naruto won't be a summoner. Instead... [spoiler was deleted]  
**Naginator**, wait and read and see.  
**ChaosLord **SilverLink310, far enough to get better training.  
**Reishin Amara**, sweet and innocent... Not sure about the second part. ^_^  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, oh, yes, I forgot about 'main character' plot-armor. How could I?  
**Narudevilfan**, there was one story with Kagerou in harem, an I own the only 'only Naruto/Kagerou' (as far as I know) (though it's a lemon) story.

*** Poll results**:  
Naruto/Mei: 26 votes so far  
Naruto/Mei + Kagerou as sex friend: 25 votes so far  
Naruto/Mei/Kagerou: 76 votes so far

*** Jutsu list**:  
**kawarimi **- (E-rank) Change of body stance - substitutes user with nearby object  
**henge **- (E-rank) Transformation - allows user to transform into another person or object

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own Naruto or its characters.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings**_'

* * *

Special thanks to _**Arch Zell**_ for beta-reading the story

* * *

**chapter 3: Above the clouds**

And once again Naruto roved through the forests of the Water country. It was just a spring, so the little jinchuuriki had to hunt for the food as no berries or fruits were there yet... He also infiltrated Mizukage's base several times, stealing their supplies and killing anyone he could without being caught... But as much as Naruto wanted the bastard to pay for what he did to his 'family', he understood that he was too untrained in true shinobi ways to do so. And in the country where civilian war was ravaging, getting the needed training was short of impossible for someone outside clans who wasn't supporting the Mizukage... So, in the end, the blond boy decided to leave the country for some time, and come back when he was ready to join the war...

By the end of June, Naruto reached the port town and sneaked into the random ship that was moving off soon. Three weeks in the dark hold later, he found himself in one of Snow country's trading ports. There he managed to exchange the weapons he stole from the ninja he killed for a new set of clothes and some normal food. But all in all the country with its ever-cold climate didn't allure the young jinchuuriki and so, once again relying on his luck, he took a ship... It happened so that he was brought to one of the ports of the land of Lightning. From there, Naruto ran south-west, following the green rivers of forests that lay between grand mountains...

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto looked from his hiding spot behind large rock, trying to determine patrol's schedule: he needed to go past one of the Kumo's forts unnoticed, but three squads of jounins were making this task infinitely harder. And the fact that the only road he could use went right through the fort didn't help either. Sighing, little blond pushed chakra into his legs - one of the tricks he learned on his own - and moved to the next shadow. He waited for the squad of Kumo ninja to pass by, and walked up the wall to the small opened window that, as he found out, led into the kitchens. Stealing himself some food, Naruto continued on his way, going through empty mess and into the corridor that connected fort's barracks with customs house... Trying to move as silently as possible, Naruto crawled against the ceiling towards the customs house's end.

"And what do we have here?" A voice from behind asked suddenly. Naruto was so shocked and afraid that he lost his concentration and fell onto the floor... Groaning in pain from his 'landing', the Kyuubi jinchuuriki looked back and saw rather old jounin in gray cloak over his uniform. The man he spiky black hair and a black vertical marking on the bridge of his nose. "I wonder, how such a big mouse could slip into my fort?" Naruto was still frozen in fear, so the jounin easily picked him by the collar of his jacket and dragged to the interrogation chamber. There, he took all the weapons the blond boy had, before binding him to the chair. "You know, you're quite lucky. Other men in the fort would have killed you without second thought..." The man said, looking straight into Naruto's eyes. "Now, what is your name, boy?"

"N-Naruto..." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said nervously. His interrogator tapped the table with his fingers, indicating that he wanted more. "I'm... orphan from the Water country... I don't know my surname..." The man sighed.

"There are no trading routes between Water and Lightning countries working right now. The only way you could have gotten there is either through Snow or Wave countries. But the nearest trading port is in more than three hundreds miles from here. Are you trying to say that not only you survived in the wild for long enough to reach the fort, but also managed to successfully infiltrate it? Alone?" Naruto nodded nervously, making the man in front of him sigh. "You know what, I don't believe you. Now tell me the real story about how you got where I caught you." The Kumo jounin said, releasing some killing intent, though it didn't affect Naruto in the slightest... Three hours of interrogation, with psychological and even a bit of physical torture, the jounin finally believed that Naruto was what he was portraying himself to be... Untying the boy, the man sighed. "Since you aren't a spy or saboteur from any know hidden village or clan and actually did nothing bad... other than stealing our ham, I don't see any reason to arrest you. But your skills impressed me quite a lot. I wish to offer you a deal." Naruto looked at the jounin trying to guess what he was going to say next. "You will stay with us in the fort and help finding security problems, and in return, you will be fed and will have a roof over your head and I will teach you a thing or two about being ninja." The man saw the Kyuubi jinchuuriki hesitating with the answer. Most likely it was due to the damage Mizukage did. "Fine. And no strings to the Kumo attached." Naruto finally nodded slowly.

"Y-Yes."

"I'm Motoi Souun, Kumogakure no Sato jounin. But you should call me either Motoi-sensei, or Motoi-shishou, whichever you like more." Naruto nodded.

"Hai... Motoi-shishou."

Naruto stayed at the fort for eight months. Because of the good food he was provided with, the Kyuubi managed to mature the boy further and being only seven and a half years old, the blond boy looked more like he was nine. Naruto did his job of finding fort's security problems very well - along with giving the jounins there additional training - and in return Motoi taught him water-walking exercise, some more advanced jiujitsu and other taijutsu moves, and the basics of wielding katana and ninja-to and **kawarimi **and **henge**. And also math, geography and bits of history... Five month after the beginning of the 'partnership', the neighborhood forts tried to hire Naruto to help them too. Motoi allowed that, and thus the Kyuubi jinchuuriki earned his first - and actually not so small - money...

But in the end, the little jinchuuriki decided that it was the time to continue wandering around the world. As much as the fort's garrison didn't want to let him go - mostly because of the knowledge of Kumogakure was arts he was given there - they couldn't do anything to stop him because, as Motoi said, Naruto had no strings to Kumo attached.

* * *

One evening Naruto was following one of the valleys between mountains, not really paying much attention to the surroundings - what a mistake for a ninja - when he hear a roar form the side. Quickly turning around, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki saw an enormous black bear that, apparently, thought the the little blond will make him a fine dinner. Drawing two kunai from his holsters, Naruto threw them at the predator, hoping to kill in quickly. The bear just deflected them with its claws. Letting out a loud roar, the beast attacked, trying to claw its 'prey', but thanks to all of the training he'd undergone, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki managed to dodge it without getting even a scratch.

"Damn!" The little blond swore as the bear attacked his again. He rolled away and drew the other two kunai he had on his body and, while the bear was getting ready for the next strike, he charged forward, thrusting both blades into beast's chest. Unfortunately, the kunai were too short to reach bear's heart... Roaring loudly from pain, the predator swung his clawed paws, sending Naruto into the nearby tree.

'_**Let me deal with this nuisance.**_' The Kyuubi finally said as its container was getting up.

'_What if someone senses you?_' Naruto asked, not really thinking the assistance from the big bad demon would do him more good that bad right now.

'**Would you prefer to be the dinner for this bear?**' The nine-tailed fox asked. '_**As far as I can see from my ...cage, you are losing the fight.**_' Groaning as he dodged another strike from the said bear, the little blond finally agreed, that he needed Kyuubi to survive this encounter... Unfortunately, this mental dialogue took some concentration, and Naruto missed incoming attack to his gut, that sent him flying into another tree. But thanks to the Kyuubi's yoki in his system, he recovered while still in the air and landed onto the tree trunk, sticking to it with his chakra... The Kyuubi pushed more of its yoki into its host, covering him with a protective 'cloak' and healing the wounds that he received... Seeing the change of its prey, the bear attacked again, this time not hunting, but killing potential danger to itself, but with the new-found speed, the little blond dodged it easily, before counterattacking with his own yoki-made claws. The bear roared in pain as five gashes appeared on it chest and started swinging his paws wildly. One of such wild swings caught Naruto by surprise, and sent him flying into a tree again, knocking yoki out of him.

"Damn..." Naruto moaned as he was trying to get up... Suddenly the bear was right in front of him with its paws ready to strike... The Kyuubi jinchuuriki closed his eyes, waiting for pain to come, but it never came. Instead he heard something heavy falling on the ground. Opening his eyes, the blond boy saw a bear's carcass right in front of him with a simple short sword sticking out of its head. The sword had its handle wrapped with red cloth, but what surprised Naruto more, its blade had sparkles of electricity dancing on it...

"Ya' know,.. attacking humans will give'ya only a death blow, yo!" A male voice said from behind the now dead bear. Peeking from behind the beast's carcass Naruto saw a large dark-skinned man with bull horns tattoo on his left cheek and the kanji for 'metal' on his right shoulder. He was wearing white bandana with Kumo hitae-ate, shades over his eyes, long white scarf around his neck, jounin's vest over his otherwise bare torso and loose dark-blue pants. Oh, and the man a sheathe with six more sword, like the one he used to kill the bear, on his back. The man looked at Naruto. "That was Kaminari no Kuni's giant bear, kid nine, but I'm here and you'll be fine!"

"'Kid nine'? What are you talking about?" Naruto snapped.

'_**I think, he was referring to me, flesh bag.**_' The Kyuubi inserted from its cage in blond's subconscious.

"Never mind..." The younger jinchuuriki muttered under his breath. "Who the hell are you?" He asked the man, who was already sheathing his blade onto his back.

"I fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee, 'cause I'm number eight, Kiraabi!" The man replied in the same ...annoying rapping.

'_**I was just about to tell you that this flesh bag contains that stupid eight-tailed half-bull. But he's strong even without it... Strong for a human, I mean. I dare say he'll defeat your Shodai from Konoha should they fight.**_' The Kyuubi informed its container. Naruto looked at Kiraabi in a slight awe - not everyday you come across someone who could defeat a Hokage.

"You're cool, Kiraabi-san... Can you teach me to be like you?" Even being wandering ninja, Naruto wasn't going to miss a chance to grow stronger. Especially if his potential teacher was another demon container.

"Teach you, teach you, teach you, bro? Your fight against the bear impressed me, yo! Follow me to the thunder valley, we'll train there night and day!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki almost beamed with happiness and quickly followed the dark-skinned Kumo ninja.

**~/ *** \~**

Kiraabi was a very demanding sensei, and though was he pushing Naruto mostly through speed, strength and stamina training, he pushed the little blond to his limits. The eight-tailed jinchuuriki also taught his 'apprentice' the basics of his taijutsu style and a bit more advanced kejutsu moves. But the best thing Kiraabi taught Naruto were seals. The rapping jounin showed the Kyuubi jinchuuriki simplest storage seal and explosive tag, and the blond boy found the art of fuyunjutsu to be quite easy, which made his 'sensei' wonder...

"Hey, nine-gaki, are you related to the clan Uzumaki?" Oh, yes, Naruto had to endure this annoying rapping every day...

"Uzumaki?.." Naruto tapped his chin with a finger. He'd definitely heard this surname before, but he couldn't remember where exactly... "I don't remember my last name, but it started with U..." Then a memory sprang into Naruto's mind. A memory where old man Hokage was doing some paperwork that affected him... "Naruto Uzumaki..." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki whispered under his breath. "That sounds right..." He made a small pause... "I don't know... But I think my full name was Naruto Uzumaki." Hachibi jinchuuriki smiled.

"Hmm... Need to make Mabui-chan happy then, say that she isn't the only one from Uzumaki den." The blond boy raised his eyebrow questioningly.

"Mabui-chan?" He asked.

"Mabui Rakurai, my bro's attendant she is, that beautiful sis!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki raised his eyebrow again: if Kiraabi's brother had an attendant, he must be someone important in Kumo. Seeing the coming question, the eight-tailed jinchuuriki added: "My bro is Raikage, yo!" Damn...

"Please... Please, don't tell her my name... I don't want to be tied to a village yet." Kiraabi raised his eyebrow above his shades, wondering what would make his fellow demon container to want to be wandering ninja, but as jinchuuriki he respected the little blond's decision.

"That's OK with me, bro. Find me kid nine, when you wish to see her, fine? We'll reunite Uzumaki then. Yo!" Naruto sighed at his sensei's antics, but nodded...

* * *

That's all, folks! Leave me a **review**.


	4. Akasha Bloodriver

Hello, everyone, here's the forth chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story. Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**Badboyzkg**, **ChaosKid0**, **fresh prince1**, **Umbra8191**, **Kyukon**, **fuuinkami**, **nobother**, **Wyrtha**, **Hideyoshi 26**, **ogihcI ikasoruK**, **taintedlegacy**, **Dudtheman**, **bumike99**, **Lycan91**, **sabbath9997**, **super12**, thank you, folks!  
**Psudocode Samurai**, I am not that good with rhymes too - it took me as much time to write Kiraabi's words as it took to write the rest of the story...  
**Naginator**, yep, she's definitely hot. No. She's HOT! But she'll star in another story. Sorry, no Naruto/R-attendant in _**Ronin**_.  
**Hakkyou no Yami**, he will. After all why else he'll get his nickname [SPOILER]:_ the genocide_. This should answer you review too, ShadowCub.  
**Lexor**, Naruto didn't end in the Snow country. He just stopped there briefly, before 'taking' a ship to the Lightning country.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, that giant bear was intended to be equal to high chuunin / low jounin ninja. Also, Naruto might be hired by anyone, as long as the mission will not interfere with his code of honor or endanger those he cares about. Mostly, he'll be hired by Mei, though.  
**RE5 forever**, I'm planning to do that one. Right after I finish the oneshot with Mito S.-U. (Why had no one done has this one either?).  
**snowclyde**, Naruto will NOT rap. He doesn't even like it that much, but tolerates it - with such a sensei you have to.  
**Arch Zell**, ^_^  
**Reishin Amara**, don't know, don't know... I like that man...  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, the story about Naruto learning his name is not finished. yet.  
**Warslasher**, if I team Naruto up with someone, that person will be Kagerou. Otherwise, he'll be a lone ninja on his missions.  
**dbtiger63**, after this chapter, he'll be dangerous in two and a half. And, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, the meeting with Mei will happen in the end of the next chapter (they won't know who each other is, though - they'll be just '_the southern general_' and the ronin who wants to kill the Mizukage).**  
kaikuduo**, attendant as in secretary.  
**Tristan76**, Naruto will meet Gaara in the next chapter and will - literally - beat a sense into this sandy head... The 'unanimous' reunion (for explanation GOTO **dbtiger63**'s review response) will be when Naruto is 10 1/2 (He looks to be 14 at that time) and Mei is 19. The 'true' reunion will be after the war ends (Naruto is 12 (17), Mei is 21).

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Doton: tsuchi bunshin no jutsu** - (C-rank) Earth style: mud clone technique - Mostly, an analog of Water clone technique, only made from earth or mud.  
**Kyuuketsuki ryouka** - (C-rank genjutsu unique to the Akasha Chisen blade) Vampires' hunting song - Sound-based genjutsu that paralyzes everyone, other than wielder, in the small radius who hears the sound. Strong-willed ninja or genjutsu masters can overpower it.  
**Bikou ninjutsu** - (general skill) Shadowing stealth technique - Allows ninja to follow the 'target' covertly.  
**Henge no jutsu **- (E-rank) Transformation technique - Allows user to change his/her appearance. There is unknown trigger (presumably - overpowering) that allows to transformation to become the real one, instead of normal illusory.  
**Kakuremino no jutsu** - (general skill) Magic cloak of invisibility technique - Jutsu user hides himself/herself with a camouflage cloak.  
**Kawarimi no jutsu **- (E-rank) Change of body stance technique - User replaces himself/herself with a nearby object or other person.  
**Nawanuke no jutsu **- (?-rank) Escaping skill - Allows user to escape from rope bindings.

*** Poll results** [poll is closed]:  
Naruto/Mei - 39 votes, including those from the reviews. ~20%  
Naruto/Mei + Kagerou as their sex friend - 41 votes, including those from the reviews. ~21%  
**Naruto/Kagerou/Mei** - 109 votes, including those from the reviews. ~59%

The pairing of the story will be **Kagerou/Naruto/Mei**. If you have problems with this - stop reading the story.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's (future) nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings**_'

* * *

Special thanks to _**Arch Zell**_ for beta-reading the story

* * *

**chapter 4: Akasha Bloodriver**

In total, Naruto spent five months training under Kiraabi. On the last week before the little blond left the Thunder valley, his sensei decided to test his chakra affinity. It came to be wind. And a quite powerful one at that... So it took the Hachibi jinchuuriki some time to find the scroll on the basic exercises to learn wind affinity, but Kiraabi found it and gave it to Naruto as a present. The made the little blond - though Naruto was only eight, he looked to be closer to ten, maybe even eleven - a very happy boy.

From the Thunder valley the blond wanderer slowly traveled south-west, trying to learn to use his elemental affinity, but even after the first month he succeeded only in cutting a leaf in two. About the same time, he entered the small country that lay between the main continent and Lightning country. And as this country had its own hidden village - Hoshigakure no Sato - situated approximately in the center, Naruto had to reroute his way closer to the shores as he definitely didn't want to be caught... Traveling close to the shores also helped the Kyuubi jinchuuriki with gathering food as it was the middle of December now...

By the beginning of March, Naruto reached the Rice fields country. And even if it barely had any forests, there were lots of rabbits there. That means the little blond always had something to eat. By now he also completed the second exercise from the scroll Kiraabi-sensei gave him, the stone-cutting exercise. But still the only usage for wind chakra Naruto had right now was sharpening his weapons - he had no elemental jutsu in his 'library'.

**~/ *** \~**

Jiraya was wandering through one of the minor towns in the Rice fields country, trying to find any information about Orochimaru, who was said to be seen in this region. Of course, it didn't mean that the white-haired super-pervert didn't stop at any pub, brothel and bath house along the way. So Jiraya was quite drunk at the moment. But as he was one of the sannin and a very seasoned ninja, Jiraya was still quite aware of his surroundings. So when a cloaked figure walked past him, the self-proclaimed super-pervert felt a small amount of yoki coming from the said figure. And not any yoki, but the yoki of the nine-tailed demon-fox!

'_Damn, I think I drank too much at that bar._' The white-haired man though. '_I could swear I came across Naruto-kun... But he is dead... Those bastards killed my godson!' The sannin hiccuped. 'And even if Naruto-kun was alive... He should be what, eight? This stranger looked to be too tall to be that young..._' So, after pondering a bit about this, Jiraya came to the conclusion that the feeling of yoki was an illusion caused by too much alcohol in his blood...

* * *

As soon as Jiraya disappeared behind the corner of a random building, Naruto sighed in relief. The little blond was sure that no matter how good he was at masking Kyuubi's yoki - yet another useful skill Kiraabi taught him - the white-haired sannin felt it. So Naruto thanked any and all Gods known that Jiraya was drunk. Otherwise he might already have been on his way to his personal hell, otherwise known as Konohagakure no Sato. Deciding that staying in the town one of the sannin was hanging around was not safe for him, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki continued traveling to the west...

**~/ *** \~**

Mei Terumi, now seventeen years old, was guiding her small group of about fifty other bloodline owners towards one of the forgotten forts that was still there from the epoch of the clan wars. Despite her young age, the red-haired girl was stronger than most jounins around, as she had mastered her both bloodline affinities, plus she was quite experience in survival on the battlefield. On the top of that, she was a genius when it came to creating battle tactics... So she was the elected leader of the South-west rebel forces, and had turned this small group, into the most dangerous one in the Water country...

The luck seemed to be on their side today as the old fortress seemed to be in a good condition and could be easily used as a rearward headquarters and a hospital for those who were too wounded to be healed on the battlefield.

"Ao, check the fortress for any sign of traps, teams delta and epsilon, be ready to scout the buildings. Teams alpha, beta and omega on standby." Ordered the red-haired kunoichi... Ao, a man of about thirty years old who had no bloodline of his own and was hunted just because he had byakugan implanted as his right eye, grunted at her all business tone, but did as she said... A minute later he deactivated the stolen eye and reported that there were no detectable traps in the visible to him part of the fortress. This meant that the buildings were clear... Fifteen minutes later teams delta and epsilon returned and confirmed Ao's surveillance.

By the end of the day, the old fortress became one of the strongholds of the rebellion against the Yondaime Mizukage...

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto was walking through one of the bigger forests in the Rice fields country without any certain destination in his mind. He then came across a dead tree that had some kind of a tunnel leading under the ground between its roots. As the tunnel looked like it was used frequently in the recent time, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki decided to explore it in case there was something of a value there... The fact there there were multiple and recently placed advanced sealing traps along the tunnel lead the little blond to believe that there definitely was something valuable there...

Soon the traps ended and the tunnel became lit with dim torches and after a ninety degree turn, the tunnel split in two. Shrugging, Naruto chose the left corridor and continued exploring this underground base. A couple of minutes of cautious walking later he reached the first door. Using his enhanced by the Kyuubi hearing, the blond tried to determine, whether there was someone inside or not. Finding the room to be empty, Naruto cautiously opened the door and walked in. The room was a simple closet... Exiting the closet, the little jinchuuriki quietly closed the door behind him and continued exploring...

The little blond was sure that he was now several kilometers away from the entrance to this underground base that turned out to be a real labyrinth, but so far he found nothing that was of any value to him: all rooms he explored so far were either empty, closets of some kind or led to laboratories where strange animals and ...things were experimented on. And the constant patrols he had to dodge we quite tiresome... Sighing, Naruto checked yet another room for any signs of anyone inside. When he heard no one, he picked the lock up and opened the door. And he stopped, rooted to the ground, stunned by what he saw.

"Bingo!" He exclaimed, eying shelves with hundreds upon hundreds of scrolls, many of which either contained jutsus or had some kind of theory behind different ninjutsu, genjutsu, fuyunjutsu branches and taijutsu styles. Quickly entering the library, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki closed the door behind himself and walked along one of the shelves with jutsu scrolls. Picking a random scroll, he opened it and read: 'Tsuchi bunshin no jutsu: creates physical copy of the user from the nearby earth or mud...' Then there were jutsu specifications and handseals as well as the best way to use it. While the technique was good, Earth wasn't Naruto's element so he put the scroll back and got ready to try another one, but his sensitive ears picked the sound of someone approaching the library. Melting into the nearest shadow, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki waited... The door opened and a ninja in gray clothes entered the room, trying to see in everything was alright.

"Hmm... I swear, someone is there. Maybe Masaro just forgot to lock the door..." The ninja said finally. The moment the ninja turned his back to the hiding blond, he got kunai to the back of his head... Catching the falling body before it hit the ground, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki carefully laid it down on the floor and closed the door. The ninja he killed didn't have much on him, but everything would do for Naruto right now, so ten kunai, two dozens of shuriken, a reel of ninja wire, three smoke bombs and six explosive notes went to Naruto's inventory. Thinking quickly, the blond boy decided that reading each scroll and memorizing jutsus there was held too much danger of being caught, he, instead, took an empty scroll and a brush with an inkwell from his pouch. Quickly drawing a set of storage seals, Naruto went along the shelves, picking the scrolls that held either fuyunjutsu or fuuton ninjustu or jutsus that didn't require elemental affinity and weren't snake based... In total the Kyuubi jinchuuriki selected over fifty scrolls that he sealed away for the further inspection. Deciding to continue exploring this underground base, he moved the body of the killed ninja into the darkest corner of the library far away from the door.

"Hope, they won't notice that you went missing for some time." The little jinchuuriki whispered, before stealthily leaving the library.

* * *

Naruto continued exploring this underground city, but for the next hour or so he didn't find anything that was useful for him. Or that was until he came across a room with large double doors. Picking the lock there was as hard as it was everywhere else, but the result was worth it: the room was an armory. Seeing the crates of kunai and shuriken and ninja wire, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki immediately got his sealing scroll ready. Sealing away about three hundreds of kunai and about five hundreds of shuriken for future use, Naruto explored the room further. He found a crate with blank scrolls and more with reels of ninja wire. A lot of those were added to his personal supplies. Along with the full crate of ration bars and several hundreds of explosive tags and smoke bombs... Absentmindedly Naruto thought that the one who invented storage seals was the hero of the world as currently the little blond had more than several quintals of things sealed away on his person... Deeper into the armory, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki found armors of different kinds, bigger blades, spears, battle axes and more different weapons... The armor was a useful thing, so Naruto decided to pick himself one... It took him some time to find something special, but in the end he got himself armor platings for upper arms and hands. Then he tried to find himself a vest, but inspecting the assortment he found a better thing: a bit bulky, but very light and reliable greenish armor that looked like it was made from scales of giant serpent. He immediately put in on, along with armor platings...

"Perfect." Naruto said to himself as he looked at his reflection on the battle axes' blade. Now he needed to find himself a weapon... The blond jinchuuriki tried many things, but couldn't find anything that would feel like it was meant to be his, other than a pair of retractable wrist-blades. He was starting to get upset, but suddenly he saw a long wooden box. Inside the box was a single-handed sword. And quite a strange one at that. It had blood-red three feet six inches long four inch wide blade, each side of which had a large protrusion near the tip and ten smaller ones going from the large one and almost all the way to the guard on equal distances. Also, there was a cross-shaped hole in the blade with horizontals on the level of the larger protrusions. The guard itself was made from blackish metal and was curvy with a fang-like protrusions directed towards the handle on the curves' centers. The handle was nine inches long and was wrapped with a black cloth. On the end of the handle there was a wide trident-like part with a eye-like ruby in its center. Deciding that he had nothing to lose, Naruto picked the strange sword. Then he let out a strangled pained moan as he felt something - a sword - bit his hand and started sucking his blood. And the worst thing, he couldn't drop the sword... But quarter of a pint of his blood and about a minute later the sword stopped sucking his blood and the wound on his hand sealed instantly.

'_**By your blood, you were judged worthy.**_' Quite pleasant female voice said in Naruto's head. _**'I'm Akasha Chisen the spirit of this fine sword.**_' The Kyuubi jinchuuriki was quite surprised: sentient swords were very rare, especially with such ...clever spirits... _**'And I am a vampire. Nice to meet you, Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, my new wielder.'**_ The blond boy was now shocked even more as, apparently, he was the son of the very man that had sealed Kyuubi into him: he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage... But Naruto had to push any thoughts on this subject out of his mind as he heard four ninja entering the armory. He was still hidden from them by shelves with different armors and weapons, so he still had a couple of second to create a plan of surviving through this... Akasha, most likely through him, knew the situation too, and came up with a way out of the current mess. '_**Send your chakra through me to the cross while doing one-handed bird handseal. This will paralyze them for a moment.**_' As this was some kind of illusion, Naruto allowed the four ninja to come close to him.

"What do we have here? A little shit that steals Orochimaru-sama's weapons?" A ninja in the same gray clothes asked, drawing his ninja-to. The three other behind him too got ready to kill him.

'_**Now.**_' Akasha commanded. Naruto sent his chakra towards the cross-shaped hole in the blade, and a quiet rather high sound filled the armory for a moment, leaving the four ninja, like the vampiress said, paralyzed. Not wasting such an opportunity, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki attacked, moving faster, than he had ever before. Appearing between his four just now unfreezing opponents, he did a three hundred sixty degrees turn, cutting all of them into two at the waist level. '_**That was what I call kyuuketsuki ryouka, vampires' hunting song.**_' Akasha said. '_**Before we were so rudely interrupted, I was about to tell you, my wielder, about my powers. As you have already discovered, I'm able to produce sound-base paralyzing attack. Also, I boost your speed and strength a bit. And, finally, I practically remove your need to sleep.**_' While the last 'power' sounded like something useless, it was not: without a need to sleep, ninja could always be on the alert, and it would also help in covering great distances in a short time.

'_**Listen to that woman, flesh bag, for she knows how to fight.**_' The nine-tailed demon inserted.

'_**You called my wielder 'flesh bag'?**_' Akasha hissed back. But before the two voices in his head could cause him quite a headache, Naruto stopped them.

'_That is quite enough, both of you. Right now we need to get the hell out of here._' The Kyuubi jinchuuriki put his cloak on, while attaching his new sword to his back, and looked into one of the blades around, like it was a mirror. He looked like before, minus the fact that he had a beautiful sword on his back, and one could make an outline of the armor vest under the cloak. But lifting the hood a bit, Naruto was surprised to see that his eyes now were crimson and had slitted pupils. '_What the fuck?_'

'_**Master...**_' Akasha said in an almost pleading tone. '_**It seems that my own power interferes with the seal that keeps that rude beast in you... And you got my eyes.**_' There was a short pause. '_**With them you will see better in the dark and following the quick movements will be a little easier... Don't be angry, master.**_' The Kyuubi jinchuuriki sighed. With the hood on, only selected few will see his eyes anyway, and the additional abilities seemed to ...beneficial.

'_OK..._' He thought with a sigh. '_I'm not angry, Akasha-san._' He could feel the vampiress breath out in relief... Naruto henge'd himself into one of the killed ninjas, before walking out of the armory... Between exploring this whole underground labyrinth and fighting for his life, the blond boy actually forgot which way he came here, so he had to rely on his enhanced senses again, smelling this time, to find a way out...

* * *

Only after an hour of wandering through dim lit corridors and dodging another dozen of patrols, Naruto finally smelled the fresh air, but the way to that exit lay either through heavily guarded area with, what the Kyuubi jinchuuriki could see from behind the corner, many cells filled with weak women and children, or through equally heavily guarded high-security laboratories.

'_Damn... Either way I will have to fight three chuunin cells. That if the other group won't join the fight..._' Naruto thought, trying to form any plan to bypass this obstacle in his head... Suddenly he got an idea. After all, seals were a very useful thing if you knew how to apply them... Deciding that he will use 'prison' route, the blond ninja stealthily moved towards the laboratories and placed several of his explosive tags on the ceiling there. Those would demolish the corridor's ceiling and make it really hard for the laboratories' chuunins to attack him any time soon. Done with this, he walked back about fifty meters and unsealed his brush and inkwell. Working really fast, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki drew an explosive seals connected to the detection and timer seals. This would trap the group from the 'prison' that would come to investigate the first explosion.

'_**You know, hairless monkey, I may start liking you. Even if you are still weak, at very least you are cunning.**_' The nine-tailed demon fox commented. Ignoring it, Naruto backtracked to the safe position and activated the tags. There was an explosion and, as planned, the ceiling fell, making it impossible to enter the laboratories from this side. Moments later he heard a group of four ninja from the 'prison' coming to the demolished corridor to see, what happen... He waited and fifteen seconds later there was the second explosion that entrapped the investigators.

'_One against eight... My chances are still very slim, but it's much better than one against twelve..._' Naruto heard another group, this time of two ninja coming, and prepared to act. These should be killed by his hand as any more explosions could possibly destroy his now only way to the freedom... The blond waited till he could see the unlucky duo. "**Kyuuketsuki ryouka!**" Naruto whispered, sending his chakra to the cross on his blade. The duo froze in place and he immediately charged at them, moments later decapitating them with one swing. '_One against six..._' As he had used explosions, the ninja from this whole underground base would be there soon, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki now had to act fast... Fishing the smoke bombs form his pouch, he threw them into the 'prison' chamber.

* * *

"What the?.." One of the six shinobi there asked as the whole room was enveloped in a thick purplish smoke. "Khh..." The man fell onto the ground with his throat cut as Naruto moved in the smoke, targeting his opponents with his hearing and smelling... Ten seconds later all guards were dead.

"S-Shinobi-san... please... free us... We're hostages there..." A woman from one of the 'prison cells' pleaded. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki looked into her eyes, but could see no lies there... Now he had a choice: helping these people would be a honorable thing, but they will slow him down and, possibly, destroy his chance of escaping this underground complex with his life... In the end, honor, somehow, won. Channeling wind chakra through the Akasha sword, Naruto cut the rods of the cages down, freeing the hostages, forty three women and children in total. He was about to lead them to the freedom when his eyes caught an identical 'tattoos' on their ankles. Seals. After the quick inspection, the blond ninja found those to be an overlooker seals- the seal that paralyzes the host should go out of the range of permission seal. But his seal wasn't placed by a seal master and could be neutralized quite easily... Drawing his wrist-blades, Naruto started doing cuts across the seals...

"What are doing?" Another woman asked quite angrily through the chaos of sounds that was now filling the chamber.

"I'm neutralizing the seals that wouldn't allow you to leave these catacombs." Explained Naruto after he was done with the last seal. "Now, everyone, be ready to move on my signal." With that the Kyuubi jinchuuriki disappeared into the corridor that led to the exit. After scouting the nearest part and finding it to be clear, he motioned the freed hostages to move forward. Once the last of them exited the chamber with holding cells, Naruto threw a kunai with the last of explosive tags there, demolishing the ceiling there too and removing any chance of enemy attacking from behind...

The next half an hour Naruto and the ex-hostages were slowly moving towards the exit form this underground base with the Kyuubi jinchuuriki scouting the tunnels for any dangers ahead and then giving the 'group' the signal to move a bit further... One the blond encountered a group of five chuunin - those from the laboratories who weren't caught in the explosion at all, but with the help the 'vampires' hunting song' Naruto killed them without too much trouble...

"The light! We are saved!" Shouted the ex-hostages when they finally saw the exit from the tunnel. The whole group rushed forward, but Naruto, using his superior speed, appeared in front of them.

"Stop. There can be more traps." He said, making them wait while the final part of their way out of the underground base was cleared from any unpleasant surprises... After defusing good two dozens of sealing traps, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki declared the tunnel to be safe and lead the freed hostages to the surface... It was a late evening there, meaning that Naruto spent about eight hours in total in the catacombs of the underground base.

"Thank you, shinobi-san." The woman, who was the one to ask him to free the 'group' said, in a shaking tone. "I don't know how to thank you... to thank you for what you've done... What can we do for you?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki looked at the women and children he saved. They all seemed to be loosely related.

"Are you the part of some clan?" He asked bluntly. Even if the woman was unsure of his intentions, she nodded.

"We are all from the Fuuma clan." Naruto nodded.

"I've heard about this clan. You have a village somewhere in the mountains of the Southern Rice fields country. I would like to make a use of a large room or, better, an empty storehouse. There are ...things I need to sort through." He made a small pause. "That, and some good food would be enough for me." The woman nodded.

"That is agreeable. We will show you the way to our village." And the group was on the move again...

**~/ *** \~**

Orochimaru and his most loyal soldier Kimimaro returned to the base, only to find it in the state of commotion.

"What happened there?" The snake sannin asked the first of his shinobi he could 'catch'. The man paled a bit and started explaining the situation, stuttering all the time. Orochimaru was growing more and more angry the whole time. "So you are telling me that a single unidentified ninja raided my base, stole my weapons and equipment, ruined my genetic laboratory and freed my bargain chip, while killing thirty of my men?" The poor man couldn't find any strength to answer the angry sannin verbally and just nodded. "Where the hell were you all looking?" Orochimaru roared. "Kimimaro, execute the whole shift for being idiots." And the snake sannin started walking towards his throne chamber to think of the way to deal with the situation his stupid underlings got him into...

* * *

**Naruto's skills**  
(lowest) E → D → C → B → A → S → Ex (highest)

**Ninjutsu**: E (knows only **bikou ninjutsu**, **henge**, **kawarimi**, **nawanuke **and **kakuremino** no jutsu)  
**Genjutsu**: E (D with Akasha Chisen blade)  
**Taijutusu**: C+  
**Kenjutsu**: C+  
**Fuyunjutsu**: C- (Uzumaki clan's native understanding of the sealing art)  
**Ninja tools**: B+  
**Physical strength**: B  
**Speed**: B-  
**Chakra reserves**: A  
**Chakra control**: C+  
**Stealth**: A  
**Infiltration skills**: B  
**Detection skills**: B  
**Intelligence**: B+

In total Naruto is a genin-level ninja at the moment, but utilizing his superior kenjutsu, stealth, ninja tools and infiltration skills, he's able to defeat even groups of chuunin if they are a bit careless and are caught by his surprise attacks.

* * *

**Akasha Chisen**  
(or Akasha Bloodriver)  
(for those too lazy to read the description, the link to the image of the sword is published in my profile)

This is a sentient sword of unknown origin. The spirit of the sword is Akasha, a vampire (**AN**: the name actually comes from _**Rosario + Vampire II**_. Akasha Chisen is Moka's mother). The sword itself has blood-red 42" long 4" wide blade with a large protrusion near the tip and ten smaller ones going from the large one and almost all the way to the guard on equal distances on each side. Also, there was a cross-shaped hole in the blade with horizontals on the level of the larger protrusions. The handle and guards are blackish in color. The guard is curvy with a fang-like protrusions directed towards the handle on the curves' centers. The handle was nine inches long and was wrapped with a black cloth. On the end of the handle there was a wide trident-like part with a eye-like ruby in its center.

THIS SWORD IS **NOT**ZANPAKTO!

The Akasha Chisen blade judges the potential wielder by their blood (using unknown criteria) and, if the man is found to be not worthy, he is killed by having all of his blood sucked by the sword. If she already has a wielder, anyone who touches the sword with the intent to make it his own, will be 'bitten'. If Akasha isn't released after that, she will kill the man by sucking all of his blood. The wielder, though, can allow another person to wield her. Each permission lasts exactly one time (if that person just drops the sword, he will need the wielder to touch the sword to make Akasha know that he can have 'another chance')  
To the one judged worthy, Akasha Chisen gives some powers: small boosts in speed and strength and almost completely removes wielder's need to sleep. She's also able to communicate with the wielder in his thoughts. The blade itself can generate sound-based illusion and is a good chakra conductor (wind or lightning element to increase it's cutting ability). The blade also can be used as a medium for jutsus (e.g. **Fuuton: kaze no yaiba** | Wind style: wind sword)

* * *

That's all, folks. Leave me a **review**!


	5. Fuuma clan and Sand ninjas

Hello, everyone, here is the newest chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story! Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**Sephieroth**, the only power of the sword that was NOT shown in the chapter 4 was its properties of chakra conductor (and, thus, Akasha helps a little with ranged ninjutsu, wind ones in particular). There will be NO other powers coming from the sword directly.**  
karthik9**, **Umbra8191**, **RE5 forever**, **fanficreader71**, **Ymere**, **nobother**, **fresh prince1**, **shadowgouf**, **snowclyde**, **LS14**, **lemartes**, **GingitsuneRaposo**, thank you, folks!  
**Psudocode Samurai**, yeah, the sword was planned to be at least an unusual one... As for 'physical manifestation' of Akasha herself... I don't know whether I will do it or not. And even if I do, I'm not sure if she will be included into the pairing (as the third girl).  
**Hakkyou no Yami**, Kagerou will be more ...well developed later on. As for training with yoki - Kiraabi isn't THAT crazy, he wouldn't train non-Kumo jinchuuriki in everything he knows.  
**fuuinkami**, I'm not exactly planning to give his one (though I might use **Nitro**'s idea and turn Akasha herself into Naruto's personal summon).  
**Revan the Eternal**, indeed it is.**  
Kyukon**, Kagerou is the green-haired beauty of the Fuuma clan (filler episodes 137-143 1st season). Though at first she appears as some kind of monster, it is only (in my opinion) a shell. In anime, though, her 'beautiful / true' form lacks a bit in bust area, but I can remedy that, can't I?  
**Naginator**, well... ^_^  
**Elemental Dragon Swordman**, yeah. Orochimaru is capable of wiping the floor with Naruto using only his tongue (ble-e-e-e-eh). Never underestimate a sannin.  
**JokemasterX**, Naruto will run into Konoha ninja a couple of times, but he will **NEVER **return to Konoha. Why should he?**  
dbtiger63**, of course - body of 14 years old teen and mind with 35 years of experience is not the same with what Mei remembers him to be.  
**RasenShuriken92**, no, no Moka in this story. Or... Do you believe in reincarnations?  
**Oxycoon**, I hadn't though about Itachi, actually, but he will most likely quit Akatsuki and become a wanderer. As for the illusion: how the hell do you suppose to make a sword with an eye-based illusion? I just wanted to keep as much of the sword's powers in the sword...**  
ChaosLord SilverLink310**, Naruto and Mei - the meeting will be in the next chapter!  
**Warslasher**, "sentient sword that gives super awesome powers and a doujutsu"... Looks like I didn't explain the sword's powers well in the last chapter. Akasha Chisen's influence on the wielder (now with numbers):  
* Speed bonus: ~5%  
* Physical strength bonus: ~10%  
These are the "small bonuses in speed and strength" Akasha was talking about.  
* Vision ~35 fps (normal human's eye can see ~24 fps, single-tomoe sharingan - around 50 fps). (fps - frames per second if someone doesn't know)  
* Improved vision in the dark (not infrared or something like that)  
And these are properties of her eyes. Now, are those really overpowering? The ability not to sleep for weeks is not directly battle-related, plus even if the body doesn't need sleep, mind (without training) still does. The **ONLY **thing that might have been too much about the sword is that paralyzing illusion, but, still, it is not unbreakable. Hell, jinchuuriki and Sakon&Ukon are **immune **to it. As for Akasha being the sentient spirit - she fights without sword most of the time, and her taijutsu can't be taught to human, so all that she can teach Naruto - battle tactics and etiquette...  
~~~ Still, why do I have to explain myself to you? This is my story.** Don't like - don't read**.  
**Wyrtha**, all answers (other than the one about other elements' ninjutsu) are in the chapter.  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, they wouldn't be villains as in **VILLAINS **otherwise. =)  
**The real leghendary supersayji**, go to the bottom of the chapter page and see what I think about jounin-level ninja's stats. Oh, and my stats are based on those used by leafninja, but expanded with the 'Ex'. But you are right, Sakura (in the 1st season) isn't genin-level kunoichi. She's academy-student-level. And I think that Shikamaru (again, 1st season) has about 40-50% of chance of defeating (capturing with his shadow) Naruto from the previous chapter of this story (Naruto's not 9 yet there).  
**King of the Kiln**, I couldn't think of blood-oriented powers for the sword that wouldn't turn it's wielder into god-level ninja. And Akasha Chisen never was arrogant (outside of the battle - Moka took 'know your place' phrase from her, after all) or anything like that, though, I agree, it's unusual for a vampire.  
**Arch Zell**, ^_^**  
fanofmany**, strongly. =)  
**Reishin Amara**, the link to the image of the sword (the image is of my own drawing) is in my profile already.  
**DrunkManSquakin**, nope, no idea about that.  
**elemental man**, They will. In the next (6th) chapter.

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Sabaku sousou** - (?-rank) Desert funeral - Crushes the target previously captured by the sand.  
**Fuuton: kiatsu no heki** - (B-rank) Wind style: air pressure wall - Original jutsu. For a couple of moments creates a protective sphere of wind around the user.  
**Fuuton: shou** - (C-rank) Wind style: palm - Original jutsu that sends rather weak ball of compressed air towards the target.  
**Fuuton: shinkuu taigyoku** - (?-rank) Wind style: vacuum great sphere - User expels large concusive wind bullet.  
**Kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**Gogyou fuuin** - (A-rank) Five elements seal - This is a fuinjutsu technique. User forms an elemental seal on each of his fingers, one for each of the following five "elements": water, metal, earth, fire and wood. This seal disrupts chakra control of its target and makes jinchuuriki unable to communicate with his/her bijuu. Those jinchuuriki who have "even" seals are affected much more by this "odd" seal than those who have "odd" seals themselves. Gaara's seal is assumed to be "odd" in this story.  
**Shishou fuuin** - (unknown rank) Four images seal - Seal generally used to seal bijuu into the host.  
(unknown rank) **Iron armor seal** - Kumo's equivalent of the Shishou fuuin.  
**Bunshin dai-bakuha** - (A-rank) Shadow clone great explosion - Exploding shadow clone.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's (future) nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'

* * *

Special thanks to _**Arch Zell**_ for beta-reading the story

* * *

**Chapter 5: Fuuma Clan and Sand Ninja**

Fuuma Kagerou was standing in the center of a rather large and complex seal. She was a thirteen year old girl with shoulder length light-green hair and purple eyes. She was one of the few beauties of the clan, as well as a skilled ninja with incredible control over the earth element. And she was going to sacrifice her looks for ability to store her chakra for a one time powerful release. The ant-lion transformation, a suicide technique that gives user power beyond measure for a minute. She was doing this because her clan needed it, after Orochimaru took away most of their women and children... Kagerou, with a couple of small tears in her eyes started the sequence of handseals, when another girl, about eight years old with bright orange hair, entered the chamber.

"Sasame-chan, why are you here? I said to the elders that I'm not to be disturbed until the ritual is finished." The green-haired beauty stated, secretly happy that her transformation to ...that ugly thing was delayed. The orange-haired girl shifted nervously, before replying.

"Akato-san saw a man and our clanswomen and children on the road. Elder Marusamo-sama asked me to bring you to the main square." Nodding, Kagerou canceled the ritual completely, before removing her sundress - the only thing she wore at the moment - and put on her normal ninja attire: black pants and sleeveless shirt, as well as her sandals, not caring that she was changing in front of another girl.

"Let's go." She said to Sasame, and two girls started running out of the building and towards the main square of the village.

* * *

When they arrived there, the square was almost full with about two hundred of the Fuuma clan members. With, all of them were looking through the wooden village gates at the approaching group. Which was lead by a short cloaked figure with a strange blood-red saw-sword on his back. As soon as the cloaked man was within fifty meters from the gates, the ten most powerful Fuuma Clan ninja, including Hanzaki with his large zanbatou, stepped forward from the group on the square.

"Halt. State your name and business with the Fuuma clan." The cloaked man looked at the ten in front of him, showing that his face was shadowed by the hood with only two blood-red eyes glowing slightly.

"Naruto. I ask for a place to stay for a couple of weeks, preferably an empty warehouse, for the deed of freeing your clansmen from Orochimaru." The cloaked figure said in a voice that could belong to a boy of about twelve years old.

"What proof do you have that they are indeed our clansmen?" Hanzaki asked.

"Ask them yourselves." He stated. It took 'the ten' about half an hour to verify that every last woman or child were indeed Fuuma and not a spy from Orochimaru. After that the clan conferred whether they should give him what he asked for or not. In the end, they decided to give him a chance.

"Naruto-san..." And elderly looking man in rather good light-gray robes said. "We decided to give you what you asked for freeing out clansmen." He made a pause to clear his throat. "You can accommodate yourself in the storehouse Sasame-chan will show you..." Another pause. "But I'm afraid that Orochimaru will not just let us go after what happened today... I'm afraid that he will come to our village, seeking revenge." The cloaked boy thought about it for some time.

"I might be able and willing to help with your problem - Orochimaru did things that make him be less than human in my eyes - but the only plan I have so far will most like deal heavy damage to at least a part of your village." He said finally.

"What is your plan, Naruto-san?" One of the elders asked.

"First of all, how many of you can do solid clones that can, say, last for a couple of hours, and can operate when they are quite afar from their creator?" Sixteen Fuuma 'answered' yes. "Hm... That's not good as we'd need roughly the same amount of the clones as the population of the village... Anyway, I have some skills in fuin jutsu and given several hours, can modify explosive tags with 'leeches' that will prevent the explosion of an activated tag for as long as it has chakra to drain from. In other words, you will leave the clones with these tags in the village to impersonate you. Orochimaru's minions capture the clones. You dispel the clones and previously activated tags explode, hopefully taking out a lot of enemies." The elders started conversing among themselves. Finally the most 'wise' of them spoke their decision.

"Your plan, while having a lot of uncertainties, is rather sound and acceptable. Fuuma clan has another village, hidden much better than this one, and no outsider knows its location. While it would be sad to have this village damaged, if that is the price of our freedom, we will pay it." The man said. "Do what you need to prepare your plan, Naruto-san."

* * *

"Let's try this one..." Naruto muttered under his breath a little tiredly. Even with no need to sleep, thanks to Akasha, his mind could take only so much, and seven hours of experimenting with seals was taking its toll on him... He activated the array, but kept sending chakra into it. He was sending chakra into it for the whole minute and nothing happened so far. But as soon as he cut the flow of chakra into the array, the weakened explosive array finally activated, destroying the paper tag and leaving scorched marks on the makeshift table the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was using. "Success..." He said with a tired happiness. His body didn't need rest, but his mind... Still, with the leech array done, he needed to do a lot of tags for the plan... So sighing tiredly, Naruto started drawing a full-power explosive tags with added leech array...

Five hours later the red-eyed blond was mentally exhausted like never before, and with severely depleted chakra reserves from creating two hundred of the high-power explosive tags didn't help his case at all... Still, he completed his part of the plan. The rest was for Fuuma to do themselves...

* * *

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki was woken up at about five in the evening by a small group of Fuuma clansmen, that included Hanzaki, Arashi, Sasame and one of the elders of the clan.

"Good ...evening." Naruto greeted. He was much better now, even if his head was still 'swimming' a bit.

"Naruto-san." The man with gray sleeky hair, Arashi, said. "One of our clans patrols spotted Orochimaru's attack group approaching the village. They should be here in a couple of hours" The red-eyed blond nodded.

"The tags are ready." He said, while gesturing at a large pack of modified explosive tags he did this night and morning. "I take it that you are calling the evacuation of the village?" He asked the elder then. Elderly man nodded.

"You are correct, Naruto-san. The reason we are here, though, is: considering how much you did to our clan, we decided than it will be acceptable to take you to our hidden village. Of course, since you are the outsider, we can't have you knowing its location, so the compromise is this: either we part our ways here, or we take you to the clan's hideout, blindfolded for the duration of the travel." Naruto was torn. His ninja instincts were telling him to take the first option as otherwise there was a great chance of being stabbed in the back. On the other hand, he was currently too valuable for them to do so as a large portion of the clan owed him for their freedom. Plus he still needed a place with a solid roof and good food to go over what he stole from Orochimaru's base. In the end, the young jinchuuriki decided to do a 'stupid' thing ant try traveling to the hidden village of the Fuuma clan.

"I'm still in need of a place to stay, so I will travel with your clan. I accept being blindfolded for the time, but should one of you touch my weapons, I will reclassify you as my enemies." Even if this was mostly an empty threat - Naruto currently was weaker than seventy percent of the clan members - they didn't know it and judged his strength by his going through Orochimaru's base. "Is that acceptable, elder-sama?" The man nodded. "Now, let's prepare a trap for the snake then." The red-eyed blond said, picking up the stack of the explosive tags.

**~/ *** \~**

The caravan of carts pulled by bulls stopped in the forest on the hill just about three miles from Fuuma clan's village. From where they were, they could observe the village without being seen... Speaking of the village, it looked a little deserted with only a hundred of clones impersonating various clansmen and clanswomen, but otherwise it looked like it always did. Almost perfect trap for Orochimaru's minions...

Arashi Fuuma, who was in charge of this operation, observed the village, waiting for the enemy to appear... He didn't have to wait for them for long as barely fifteen minutes after the caravan stopped in the forest, about fifty of the snake's ninja attacked the village from three sides, quickly pushing all of the clones to the central square... When the clones were all on the square, the snake sannin himself walked into the village. He approached the clones and said something to the one that impersonated elder Marusamo. The said clone spit at Orochimaru's face and the sannin tried to punch the offender.

"Cancel the clones!" Arashi yelled to the other Fuuma. Moment later all of the sixteen clone creators had canceled their jutsus. A second later a large explosion occurred in the village... From his spot, Arashi could see that they didn't even scratch Orochimaru, but many of his minions were wounded or killed. And as the snake sannin had no information about the second hidden village the Fuuma clan owned, he wouldn't bother them for some time. Hopefully long enough for someone to kill him...

Once Arashi finished reporting the relative success of the operation, the caravan started secretly move towards the hidden village of the clan... Naruto was sitting in a cart somewhere in the middle of the caravan, meditating to allow his mind to finish resting, when he felt someone get into the cart. Opening his eyes, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki found himself almost face to face with the green-haired beauty of the clan, Kagerou, who was 'sitting' on the edge of the cart on all fours, looking at him with some interest in her purple eyes.

"Mmm?" Naruto 'asked' while raising his eyebrow. The green-haired girl blushed a little and backed away into sitting on her knees.

"You were meditating, right... Naruto-san?" He sighed.

"Indeed. It helps to rest my body and mind while still on guard. Do not get this wrong, I believe you, but the life had dealt me many hard blows and I prefer to always be ready for another one." She nodded. "And, call me just Naruto. Honorifics make me feel old." Kagerou blushed a little more. "Anyway, I take it that you are here to help maintaining the secret of your village's location, right?"

"Yes." Kagerou said with a nod.

"Proceed then. But remember, should my trust in your clan be betrayed..." He left the threat unfinished, mostly because he couldn't back it up with force, not that the clan knew about it... "Oh, and don't touch my sword. Akasha-san will protect herself should anyone but me try to wield her." The green-haired beauty nodded, and took a thick black wrap from a pocked of her pants. She moved behind him and carefully, not to touch Akasha, wrapped the wrap over his eyes, making sure that he will be blindfolded by this. But once she was done, she didn't leave the cart right away as he thought she would. "You want something else, Kagerou-san?" Even if couldn't see her, he was sure she blushed. At being caught or what, he wasn't sue, though.

"Y-yes, Naruto-s... Naruto." Kagerou was stuttering? So far she seemed to be very sure of what she was doing, so he found it to be ...strange. "I w-wanted to thank you for doing so much for my clan, a-and..." There was a moment of silence, before Naruto felt something soft and warm touch his left cheek for a couple of seconds. She kissed him. He felt himself blushing madly and, though he couldn't confirm it, he felt that Kagerou was as well. Comments from the Kyuubi and slight teasing from Akasha, who was seeing her wielder as both her master and as adoptive son of some sort, didn't help the red-eye boy by the slightest.

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto ended up spending a total of seven months with the Fuuma clan instead of just two weeks, but they didn't complain about it for he did a lot to help them get away from Orochimaru. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki himself learned all of the jutsu he stole from the snake sannin, starting with the Kage Bunshin. However, he mastered only six out of seventy. He also learned a lot more about fuyunjutsu, and trained in fighting both unarmed and with Akasha. The red-eyed blond often sparred with Kagerou or other Fuuma clansmen who were close to his physical age... Speaking of Kagerou, she was ...very surprised when she learned that he wasn't even nine when she kissed him, but as he explained her that it was like a kekkei genkai that matures him faster and then keeps at the prime longer, she accepted it...

But all good must come to an end, so were Naruto's days of peace. He finally felt himself ready to return to the Water country to help bringing the three-tailed bastard of the Mizukage down. So, the Fuuma clan had Kagerou and Arashi escort him - blindfolded, of course - away from the village. When they were telling good bye to each other, Kagerou kissed him again. Why? Who knows...

**~/ *** \~**

Mei Terumi sighed as she plopped down onto her bed in the marquee she had as the commander of the south-west front rebellion forces. She had just returned from the negotiations with the generals of the southern front of the rebellion. Both sides knew, that it would be advantageous for both of them them to unite fronts, but when it came down to choosing the commander of the united front... Mei wasn't opposed to 'losing' the highest commander's position, but she wasn't going to let the other commanders have complete control over her forces, but her idea of the council was suppressed. Thus the negotiations lasted and lasted...

Of course, there also was the western front of the rebellion, but they didn't have a central command at all. They're just a group of bloodline clans that fought the Mizukage's forces and, sometimes, even each other. So, trying to negotiate with them was even worse than with the power-hungry generals of the south...

Still, something needed to be done as the war was dragging for too long in her opinion, draining the reserves, both human and material, of both sides... Should the war continue for another three years, there was a good chance that the Hidden Mist would lose the status of a great Hidden village. Or even would be destroyed by the side that would not like the leader... That was not an option in this war...

For who know what time, Mei thought about what would be different in this war had her blood family or her adoptive little brother lived...

**~/ *** \~**

A team of four ninjas was walking through the forest of the northern Fire country, heading back home from their mission in the Claw country. In the front of the group there was walking a red-haired boy, just nine years old. He had teal emotionless eyes with large black rings around them, red kanji for 'love' on the left side of his forehead, and a large gourd on his back. He was dressed in black pants and a gray T-shirt. Several meters behind him the three remaining members of his team, including his jounin-sensei, were walking. The said jounin was really tall and wore standard Suna jounin uniform, along with a white cloth hiding the left side of his face. Next to him there was a blond girl of twelve, almost thirteen, years old. She had her hair made in four ponytails. She was dressed in white battle kimono and had small battle fan strapped to her back. And the last member of this team was a boy, barely twelve, dressed in a black clothes that left only his hands, feet and war-paint painted face visible. He had something in bandages on his back.

"Damn... Gaara is talking to himself again. Those bandits we had to eliminate clearly weren't enough to sate it. I just hope that he won't attack us." The girl said quietly, so that the redhead wouldn't hear her. The boy in black just nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry, Temari, Kankuro..." The jounin-sensei of the team said. "If anything happens, I will protect you with my life. You are my duty and the future of our village. I can't allow you to die." He said.

"Thank you, Baki-sensei." The black-clad boy, Kankuro, whispered to his teacher... They then fell silent and continued walking, until, suddenly, a male of about fourteen years old, judging by his height, in a black cloak with hood shadowing his face and a blood-red sword in a sheathe in his back appeared from behind the turn of the road. Gaara observed the man for a couple of seconds, while his teammates stopped at a good distance behind him, hoping not to be caught by whatever will happen.

"You are strong. You will prove my existence." The red-haired boy finally stated in an emotionless voice, making the cloaked teen stiffen a bit. Then Gaara sent a wave of the sand towards the mysterious man, quickly capturing him into the sand coffin. "**Sabaku Sousou**." Baki, Temari and Kankuro prepared themselves for the gore Gaara's method of 'proving his existence' created, so they were very surprised when instead of it, there was an powerful explosion. Moment later, the cloaked teen, completely unharmed, appeared back on the road, several meters behind where he was 'killed'.

"Sorry, but I have no intentions to die today." The cloaked teen stated. This only made Gaara send another wave of sand towards him. The cloaked teen brought his hands together and did several handseals, but the sleeves of the cloak prevented everyone from seeing what exactly those handseals were. "**Fuuton: Kiatsu no Heki!**" For a moment he became encompassed by an almost transparent wall of air, which prevented Gaara's sand form reaching him. Then he did a couple more of handseals and thrust his right hand forward. "**Fuuton: Shou!**" A projectile of compressed air flew towards Gaara and broke through his sand shield, though losing most of its power, and hit the red-haired boy himself, forcing him to do a couple of steps back. The trio of Gaara's teammates stared in shock as the complete stranger did this to Gaara - no one had ever managed to 'touch' Gaara before...

"You... You... It hit me... You are strong... Hear, mother, I will give you sweet blood now! You are a worthy kill!" The redhead roared, sending more sand towards the stranger, who used kawarimi with a rock to dodge the attack and appear between Gaara and most of his sand.

"Hmm... Emotionally unbalanced, at least partially insane, has signs of insomnia, controls sand..." The stranger stated, observing Gaara. "Are you the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Shukaku?" Shocked expressions of the redhead's companions was all the answer he needed. He removed the sword from its sheathe and pointed it at Gaara while doing a short sequence of handseals with his free hand. "**Fuuton: Shinku Taigyoku!**"A much more powerful wind bullet sped towards Gaara, easily passing through his sand shield and slamming into the sand armor, creating a large hole in it, near Gaara's stomach... While the wind bullet was flying, the cloaked teen already sheathed his sword and was doing another sequence of handseals. Finishing it, he outstretched his right hand to the side and purple flames with kanji in them appeared around his fingers. The moment the wind bullet hit Gaara, making him start falling backwards, the cloaked teen dashed towards him, before thrusting the hand with flames into redhead's gut. "**Gogyou Fuuin!**" Gaara screamed in pain, before collapsing on the ground, somehow still conscious.

"You... defeated... me! Why... why... are you... so strong?.." The stranger looked at the fallen jinchuuriki for a couple of seconds, before answering:

"You fight for yourself. I fight for the others... Even if they are already dead. My strength comes from the need to protect, even if I protect the memory..." Gaara looked back at the cloaked teen.

"I... I have... no one... but myself... to fight for..."

"Then find someone." Gaara sighed and fell unconscious, finally succumbing to the effects of the **gogyou fuuin**. With that the stranger started walking. "His seal is either entirely wrong or just too weak to keep Ichibi at bay. I blocked the yoki flow into his system with the five elements seal, but this is only a temporary solution. Try replacing the original seal with the four image seal or the iron armor seal."

"Who are you? How do you know so much about the seals?" Both Baki andthTemari asked the stranger, but he didn't answer. Though, when he walked past the girl, she saw his eyes. Red and slitted...

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto sighed and shook his head as he finally stepped onto the ground of the Water country. Other then meeting the Ichibi jinchuuriki and a failed attack of pirate wannabes - they couldn't even reach the ship before his wind jutsu destroyed their boat - his travel to the land of Water was eventless. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki decided that he will join the rebellion, as he was sure that alone he stood no chance against the Mizukage and his forces, but before that, he decided to visit the ruins of the village where his late adoptive family lived... Sighing again, the red-eyed blond started walking away from the port.

* * *

**Naruto's skills**  
(lowest) E ≪ D ≪ C ≪ B ≪ A ≪ S ≪ Ex (highest)

**Ninjutsu**: A  
**Genjutsu**: D (E without Akasha Chisen blade)  
**Taijutusu**: C  
**Kenjutsu**: B+  
**Fuyunjutsu**: B+  
**Ninja Tools**: B+  
**Physical Strength**: A-  
**Speed**: B+  
**Chakra Reserves**: S  
**Chakra Control**: C  
**Stealth**: B  
**Infiltration Skills**: B-  
**Detection Skills**: B  
**Intelligence**: B+

Naruto currently is at the jounin level of strength. He managed to reach it in just under seven month, thanks to the shadow clones (six full month of ninjutsu/fuyunjutsu training with 60 shadow clones is equal to 30 years of training alone). Naruto specializes in kenjutsu and wind ninjutsu and a bit in fuyunjutsu. Outside of the shadow clones, he also knows **Bunshin Dai-Bakuha** jutsu and currently works on creating wind element version of the shadow clone.

Naruto's chakra control went down slightly, because of how his chakra reserves grew. Same happened to his stealth and infiltration skills. Still, he remains very good at the last two.

* * *

**Read this before accusing me of writing super-Naruto**: While Naruto is far too strong and knowledgeable for his nine and a half years old, he is physically 14 and has more than 30 years of ninjutsu/fuyunjutsu training (shadow clones) under his belt, plus don't forget his enormous chakra reserves... So defeating nine years old Gaara, especially since the redhead hadn't used even his partial transformation, isn't that hard, actually (had Gaara transformed into 120 feet tall demon tanuki, Naruto would be crushed in a matter of seconds). All he needed to do was make a hole in Gaara's defenses and place the gogyou fuuin (I suppose, the seal isn't well known in Suna) on Gaara before his defenses recover. And I, personally, think that high B-rank level (actual rank of that justu is unknown, I judge its power by the effects it had in manga) may be enough to tear through sand shield and crack sand armor.

* * *

Anyway... That's all, folks. Leave me a **review**!


	6. Rebellion

Hello, everyone, here's the newest chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story. Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**NANLIT**, thank you, but, really, there was no need to send e a review via PM. Anyway, sorry, but your guess is wrong. He will not be a commander of any rebellion front.  
**Umbra8191**, **tedlay**, **JazzyJ09**, **Naginator**, **fuuinkami**, **karthik9**, **RasenShuriken92**,** nobother**, **fanficreader71**, **dm5elite007**, **sh8ad8ow**, **Trey of the rebellion**, **Lycan91**, **Irishfighter**, **LS14**, **Revan the Eternal**, **fresh prince1**, **bandgsecurtiyaw**, **No- I'm not on facebook.**, **Reishin Amara**, **ThaLegacy**, **hello 696969**, **god of all**, **KillerFoxDemon1397**, **macabre-wolf**, **danfrogger**, thank you, folks!  
**Wyrtha**, hmm... not sure, but most likely Gaara will be more tolerant to those who do not attack him. But that much most likely will be all of the changes in him.  
**pentupfury**, I disagree... Mei does have a lot of chakra and, even if she doesn't have shadow clones for training, with two elemental bloodlines and determination to make Mizukage pay for his crimes, she can advance in her battle strength pretty fast.  
**scione**, in manga there was Gamabunta to help our blondie... But in manga Gaara also took full bijuu form... Guess, conditions are more or less equal...  
**GingitsuneRaposo**, OK, I'll forget about them. After all, after the next chapter Naruto'll become S-rank ninja in the bingo book. And I do remember mentioning his new 'nickname' some chapters before. ^_^**  
dbtiger63**, actually, if you read more carefully, Naruto said Gaara his 'how to live' rule. It was just shorted and less angsty than in canon and you might have just dismissed it.  
**T00STr00nG**, Naruto will be marked as S-rank ninja at 10 (even though he fight using creativity, not brute strength. Not that he lacks either...)  
**Hakkyou no Yami**, as the pairing contains Naruto/Mei, the redhead will definitely stop seeing him as her adoptive brother. =) But please note that Naruto's chakra reserves are growing to, so for the time being his chakra control will suck.**  
ChaosLord SilverLink310**, I was thinking about having a squad of Fuuma helping the rebellion. Any thoughts on this matter?  
**kenegi**, Naruto is low to mid jounin now, but 'grows' fast. As for Tsunade's punch... it's not real strength, but it is S+ / Ex-**  
fanofmany**, well, I know two sties with Kagerou other that this one (one of those two is still mine though...), but, true, she's really used really rarely...**  
ogihcI ikasoruK**, not sure, maybe.**  
Still Not Dead Yet**, yes, Suna ninja must have tried wind jutsu on Gaara, but, like you said, he had territorial advantage there - in the forest there in only so much sand for him to use, so his sand shield and armor were much weaker. Naruto will have two ladies for himself (and Akasha might tease him from time to time with the images of herself - she can use mental link to that extent. Not sure if I'll give Naruto ability to summon her to the real world, like I was suggested.)  
**RE5 forever**, sorry, but the real reunion will happen later.  
**Sephirotx**, Naruto will be 'Uzumaki' for the time being... As for Konoha reacting to the 'new and improved' him... that will happen in the future. rather distant one, though.  
**Kojiro Kun**, Naruto starts helping rebellion in this chapter. ^_^  
**Moscow2009**, damn, even people from Russia read my stories. =) А вообще, у меня всегдя было плохо с описаниями чувств. Я больше на боях специализируюсь...  
**Elemental Dragon Swordman**, like I said before, the real reunion will be later. But at least they get to see each other in this chapter.  
**Grav91**, кто заказывал продолжение?

46 review for the last chapter... Wow!

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Shunshin no jutsu** - (D-rank) Body flicker technique - Moderate distance 'teleportation'.  
**Fuuton: shinkuu taigyoku** - (?-rank) Wind style: vacuum great sphere - User expels large concussive wind bullet.  
**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba** - (A-rank) Wind style: sword of wind - Powerful wind blade.  
**Kawarimi no jutsu** - (E-rank) Change of body stance technique - User substitutes himself with a nearby object.  
**Suiton: mizu no muchi** - (?-rank) Water style: whip of water - Create a solid whip from water.  
**Suiton: suiryuudan no jutsu** - (B-rank) Water style: water dragon projectile technique - Creates a column of water in a shape of dragon that attacks the target.  
**Suiton: daibakufu no jutsu** - (A-rank) Water style: grand waterfall technique - Creates a column of water that will then erupt towards the target.  
**Fuuton: shinkuu gyoku** - (?-rank) Wind style: vacuum sphere - User expels multiple penetrating wind bullets.  
**Fuuton: shou** - (C-rank) Wind style: palm - Original jutsu that sends rather weak ball of compressed air towards the target.  
**Suirou no jutsu** - (C-rank) Water style: water prison technique - Captures the target into a ball of water. User must be touching the water prison for its continuous existence.  
**Bunshin dai-bakufu** - (A-rank) Shadow clone great explosion - Exploding shadow clone.  
**Fuuton: shinkuuha** - (?-rank) Wind style: vacuum wave - User expels and arc of cutting wind.  
**Raiton: jibashiri** - (?-rank) Lightning style: earth flash - Unleashes an electric current.  
**Kyuuketsuki ryouka** - (C-rank genjutsu unique to the Akasha Chisen blade) Vampires' hunting song - Sound-based genjutsu that paralyzes everyone, other than wielder, in the small radius who hears the sound. Strong-willed ninja or genjutsu masters can overpower it.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's (future) nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'

* * *

This chapter is not beta-read!

* * *

**Chapter 6: Rebellion**

It took Naruto several weeks to find the ruins of the village he called his home... It seemed that in years since he ran away nothing changed there, not much anyway. Only tall grasses now were growing among the burnt ruins of the houses. In blond's mind, the people of the village deserved some kind of a memorial for what they did for him. Akasha, being as helpful as she always was, provided him with a design. Of course, it was nothing like the architecture of the Elemental nations, but it definitely was good... But Naruto had no talents in earth element manipulations, so building the memorial – seven fit stone column with a carved stone cross on top of it – took a week of time. But seeing that the result was worth of this hard work, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki didn't mind...

* * *

Unfortunately, as beautiful as the memorial was, it also was noticeable, and it was no real surprise when a team of Mizukage's ninja came to investigate. And they did come just when Naruto was leaving to begin his searches for the rebellion...

"This was the village of nonhumans. Anyone who is not a ninja of Mizukage-sama found there is to be treated as one of them and be eliminated." A large man with a spear – Naruto recognized him as the one who tried to kill him three years ago – spoke. "Show no resistance and your death will not be too painful, monster." In response, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki just drew Akasha, even if he was facing eight opponents all of them at least chuunin. He will not die before the three-tailed bastard has paid for his crimes. "I see. Kill the monster." The man ordered, much to the delight of his teams. "Slowly and painfully like it deserves." The Mist ninja tried to take him down with a rain of kunai and shuriken, but the Kyuubi jinchuuriki **shunshin**'ed away, reappearing above them.

"**Fuuton: shinku taigyoku!**" The red-eyed blond blew a powerful bullet of concussive wind. And even if all of them escaped the direct hit from the attack, they still got hit with a shock wave. Not giving them any chance to recover, Naruto swung Akasha, sending a pale blade of wind, the **kaze no yaiba** technique, into the biggest group of his opponents. Again, the jutsu did noting more than a minor wounds to the Mist ninja.

"**Suiton: mizu no muchi!**" Four of the Mist ninja cried out, sending water ropes to binding the Kyuubi jinchuuriki who was still in the air.

"**Suiton: suiryuudan!**" The other four cried. The ground was wet enough to provide water even for such demanding techniques. Unfortunately, the whole group underestimated Naruto's creativity when it came to fighting.

"**Kawarimi!**" The cloaked blond substituted himself with the closest enemy, forcing the whole group to try to cancel their attacks. This gave the red-eyed blond a short moment of his enemy not paying attention to him. And he didn't waste it. With a quick slash he wounded a large man with an axe. The wound was not exactly fatal, but the man will not be fighting in this battle anymore. Or in any other one for that matter. Ripping the axe from man's arms and threw it into the group of opponents. Not waiting to see the results of the attack, Naruto fired a good dozen of small balls of compressed air.

"**Suiton: daibakufu!**" Three of the Mist ninja cried, sending powerful attacks towards the blond jinchuuriki. But once again Naruto **kawarimi**'ed away, using one of the Mist ninjas as the target. The poor man was killed before the jutsu could be stopped.

"Bastard!" The spear-wielding jounin shouted, unleashing a water dragon towards the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

"**Fuuton: shinku gyoku!**" Wind projectile tore through the dragon, and the Mist ninja was forced to dodge it. "**Fuuton: shou!**" Two wind projectiles hit the muddy ground around Naruto, raising dirty water into the air and obscuring his actions from his opponents.

"**Suirou no jutsu!**" Four of the six remaining Mist ninja shouted as they used water to capture whatever was inside. And when the water settled down and cleared a bit, there indeed was Naruto captured inside.

"Now you shall die monster. Slowly drowning in this water. You will die like all..." The spear-wielding jounin started to rant, but a voice from behind stopped him.

"I'm afraid, you captured something wrong. Something like...** Bunshin dai-bakufu!**" Naruto said, tossing a scroll into the air. At the same time his clone in the water prison exploded, throwing the four that held it backwards. Moments later the scroll in the air went off, releasing a rain of kunai, each with the explosive tag attached. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki made a handseal, and the tags exploded, creating the whole field of fire and killing three more Mist ninja. Not giving his remaining opponents a chance to recover, Naruto fired two successive wind blades of the **fuuton: shinkuuha** jutsu to kill another two ninja, leaving the spear-wielding man alone. "Now we shall talk." He hissed, slowly walking towards the man, the hood hiding his face in the shadow.

"I have nothing to talk about with you, monster!" The man shouted, while doing handseals. "**Raiton: jibashiri!**" In response Naruto just did a single handseal, making the winds cancel lightning attack. Growling, the man started to do handseals for the water dragon, but...

"**Kyuuketsuki ryouka!**" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said, holding Akasha Chisen in his right hand. The man found himself momentary paralyzed. And while he could not move, Naruto threw two kunai, cutting his shoulders and rendering his arms useless. "I said, we shall talk." Naruto hissed. "I remember you. Three year ago you were in the group that attacked this very village. You killed the only people I could call family! You called me a monster... You were right. I am one, a monster of your own creation." With these words, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki removed his hood, showing his face and, specifically, his eyes to the now frightened man.

"Y-You? I killed you!" The man shouted.

"Unfortunately for you, as you can see, I a pretty much alive. And I intent to stay alive for long enough to see the three-tailed bastard die. Preferably, by my sword... As for you... Your life ends now." And the Kyuubi jinchuuriki cut the man in two...

**~/ *** \~**

Ao and his group of ninja were returning to the Kuroi jurin fort, one of the three main rebellion bases. They had met no Mizukage's ninjas on their way, but still kept on guard. So the moment they saw a hooded figure leaning against the outer wall of the fort next to the gates, they immediately went into the battle mode and attacked. The stranger avoided swords by jumping up the wall.

"Hey!" He said, rather calmly, considering the situation. "I'm not here to be your enemy." Ao sighed and commanded his men to stand down.

"Very well, we will listen to what you have to say..." The byakugan-wielder said, looking at the cloaked stranger.

"Uzumaki, I'm Uzumaki." Ao's visible left eye widened a bit, showing that he recognized the surname. And even though he didn't remember any Uzumaki being still alive, he allowed the stranger to continue. "At one time I live with a bloodline family in the South-west Water country, but one day that bastard sent his ninjas to kill us. My whole adoptive family was killed, I myself survived on pure luck. I escaped the Water country and traveled the world for years, training, getting stronger, preparing myself to kill Mizukage... I want that bastard to pay for his cries with his life."

"That story is good, but for all we know, it can be a lie." Ao said. Of course, with his byakugan active, he could tell that even while the man wasn't telling them everything, he was honest in what he said. "Give e a reason not to kill you where you are standing."

"I could have infiltrate this fort and killed everyone in it... There are people living there... My senses can tell as much... But I just stood there, waiting for you – or any other rebellion group – to arrive. But I know that this is not enough of a reason, so, how about this?" The stranger took a scroll out of his pocked and unsealed its contents: eight heads with Kiri hitae-ates. Ao nodded to himself. Mizukage was a bastard, but even he would not sacrifice his purging squad just in an attempt to get a spy into the ranks of the rebellion – the bastard preferred attacking them head on.

"OK..." Ao stretched out. "And if you want to join the rebellion, what can you give us?"

"I defeated these eight on my own. I believe, my battle strength can be something to help bringing the three-tailed bastard down." Ao's companions shivered involuntary at the thought of fighting someone this strong, but all of them were confused when Uzumaki mentioned Sanbi. Seeing this, the cloaked man decided to elaborate. "Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura, is the jinchuuriki of the three-tailed turtle demon." Ao nodded.

"Very well. I shall allow you to join the rebellion." He said. "But for now you are on probation. One step out of the line, and you are dead. Is this clear?" The Uzumaki man nodded and jumped down onto the ground. While he was in the midair, though, Ao saw his eyes. Red and slitted. This man definitely wasn't working for Mizukage, for the bastard would kill anyone who possessed something that didn't belong to the normal human. Even if this something was transplanted...

**~/ *** \~**

Mei Terumi, the south-west general as she was now known, was sitting in her office in the Touko fort, going through the paperwork. As one of the three leaders of the rebellion, she had to do this, even if she disliked it... But she got an unexpected brake from the terror of the paperwork in a form of a messenger raven from Ao. The bird brought his usual report about the missions and recruits. But this time one thing caught her attention – the information about the status of the Mizukage. The fact that the bastard was a jinchuuriki would make killing him much more difficult. But it was better learning this fact now, than on the battlefield. So Mei decided to shift her inspection routine and visit the Kurio jurin fort as soon as possible to thank the one who brought this information in person.

**~/ *** \~**

Twelve days later, Mei and a small group of her guards approached the Kuroi jurin fort. The rebels, recognizing their leader, let her in – after making sure that he was the real one, of course. The south-west general went directly to Ao's office in the castle, where she found the man ...fighting the mountains of paperwork. Seeing his leader enter his office, Ao immediately stood up and bowed.

"Good afternoon, Mei-sama. What business brings you there this day?"

"Good afternoon you too, Ao." The south-west general replied, sitting down in an empty chair in front of Ao's table, while her ninja squad stood guard around her. "I received your report, and while this is not good news that we are up against a demon container, it is good that we learned this now. I came here to thank the one who brought us this information in person." Ao sighed.

"While I agree that the one who brought us this information should be rewarded, I do not think that you should thank him in person. He is the newest recruit for the rebellion and has yet to earn the trust. I also detected an anomaly within his body, but I'm not sure whether it is because of his sword, which happens to be sentient one, or not... I do not think that thanking him in person would be..." He said before being interrupted.

"Ao." Mei hissed. "You may be one of my most trusted men, but I'd like to do my decisions myself. I want to thank him in person." Ao sighed again and called his secretary.

"Akuha, be dear and bring Uzumaki-san here." He said to a petite brown-haired girl, who was barely a genin in strength and thus never saw the battlefield in her time in the rebellion. The girl nodded and disappeared behind the door. A couple of minutes later she returned with a cloaked figure following her.

"You summoned me, Ao-taicho?" The man asked with a small bow. Then he switched his the red-haired woman of about eighteen years old, who was sitting by the table, with four ninja standing guard on her sides. The woman looked quite familiar to him, but he couldn't just pinpoint where he had met her before.

"Yes, Uzumaki-san. I'd like you to meet one of our leaders, the south-west general, Mei-sama." The woman gave him a curt nod. "She wanted to thank you in person for bringing such a valuable information to us." Ao said.

"Indeed, Uzumaki-san..." Mei said, standing up and walking up to the cloaked man. "You brought us a valuable information that may save many lives in the future. For this you have my thanks." She extended her hand, which the man shook.

"Thank you Mei-sotaicho." Naruto said, while thinking: '_Redhead and Mei... Is she my adoptive nee-chan? No... It can't be... I was the only survivor in the village and... She looks different... But still..._' In the end, he decided that this Mei was just a lookalike and he didn't need to think about it too much, even if he didn't want to kill the hope of his nee-chan surviving too... Unbeknownst to him, the moment they shook their hands, Mei too felt something, something like she knew this person. But remembering Ao's words that Uzumaki joined the rebellion only two weeks ago, she dismissed this feeling as nothing.

"Unfortunately, Uzumaki-san, I'm rather busy person as, without any doubt, you are too, so let us return to our duties. I will have Ao double your payment for the next three month as the reward for your deed." She spoke.

"Thank you, Mei-sotaicho." Naruto said to her, before turning to Ao. "Was there anything else, Ao-taicho? As much as I am honored to be here with sotaicho, I need to return to my guarding duties." Ao shook his head.

"No, Uzumaki-san, this is all. You are dismissed." And with a bow, the cloaked man left the office, leaving the leaders of the rebellion to their own discussions...

* * *

* * *

That's all folks! Leave me a **review**.


	7. Rivers of blood

Hello, everyone. Here's the newest chapter of the "**Ronin**" story. Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**karthik9**, **fuuinkami**, **LbcLostKid**, **RasenShuriken92**, **Umbra8191**, **Knives91**, **RE5 forever**, **c im am a dragon**, **Garuda 1 Talisman**, **Manga154**, **golfaholic**, **sh8ad8ow**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, thank you, folks!  
**Naginator**, **gazz uzumaki**, **Kojiro Kun**, **tobi is a good boy777**, **roshane**, **Reishin Amara**, **ragnrock kyuubi**, **Hakkyou no Yami**, hopefully, this chapter will give you some insight about why I had them not recognize each other (other than "plot needs it this way" excuse).  
**Elfen Sky**, well... If anything, I can use "plot requires it" excuse. ^_^ Anyway, really, I don't have any really good excuse for that one, so see the previous sentence for the explanation. Спасибо, рад, что люди читают меня, и им нравится мое творчество.  
**Psudocode Samurai**, I needed a discharge of the atmosphere - after all in the next chapter Naruto will officially get his nickname: "Genocide" (Thanks to what he did in this chapter).  
**The real leghendary supersayji**, I actually thought that Yagura's weapon is a sword. Oh well... This is MY story, so he'll have a sword as his weapon. Yagura is strong without his beast, and with it... He is stronger, but, well, dumber. So as long as one can evade his attacks, fighting him in the beast mode would be about as hard as him without it... That's what I think.  
**Elemental Dragon Swordman**, go to my reply to **Elfen Sky**'s review to see the reason for the plot hole. But, OK, in the fifth chapter after this one they will finally meet for real (I will have the siege of Kirigakure no Sato three chapters long). Maybe, there will be even some M-rated action between Naruto and Mei. ^_^  
**ShadowGOUF**, of course they will. After all, there is Naruto/Mei in the pairing.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, the rebellion gets help part one: weapons and money - this is what this chapter is about.  
**ogihcI ikasoruK**, we talked over PM about this.  
**Wyrtha**, here you go!  
**DudeZx**, thanks!  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, well, I figured it out that the rebellion knew about Yagura being ...not normal, but they didn't know what beast exactly did he contain. One, actually, having enough info, could simply deduce that it was Sanbi.**  
TheElementalKingOfHell**, I update as often as I can. My diploma that I have to write, though, prevents from writing fanfiction more...  
**fanofmany**, indeed they are.  
**Floating On An Akatsuki Cloud**, Naruto will be very powerful (he already is "strong", though, mostly because he uses unusual tactics, ambushes, etc. to take his opponents down without them counterattacking him much), but never once he will be godlike (nor he will be anything more than a jinchuuriki with a spirit of vampire princess in his sword). =)  
**deathkille88**, like this one?  
**Lednacek**, one: most of the bloodline clans alive lived outside of Kiri, so they had less access to such info. Two: Yagura is strong without his beast, so he has no real need in flashing 'tails' in each battle he fights - this way he has Sanbi as an ace in the sleeve. Three: rebellion has info about him being "not normal" and have suspicions, Naruto just gave them the info about what beast exactly does Yagura contain (I suspect that there are some ninja with lower demons/spirits sealed in them).

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Fuuton: shinkuu renpa** - (unknown rank) Wind style: vacuum successive waves - User expels several cutting wind arcs.  
**Henge **- (E-rank) Transformation - allows user to transform into another person or object.  
**Ni-kon hei: rengou** - (secret technique) Two soul warrior: union - Naruto allows Akasha's spirit into his body, and they control it together. This allows wider range of attacks and greatly increased situation awareness, but maintaining this 'mode' is mentally straining as one needs to control only certain muscles of his body, while completely ignoring other.  
**Akatan** - (secret technique) Red arc - Aoba launches cutting arc of crimson energy from his blade. It's like weaker version of Ichigo's **Getsuga Tenshou** ("_**Bleach**_").  
**Fuuton: shinkuu gyoku** - (unknown rank) Wind style: vacuum sphere - User expels multiple penetrating wind bullets.  
**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba** - (A-rank) Wind style: sword of wind - Powerful wind blade.  
**Kawarimi no jutsu** - (E-rank) Change of body stance technique - User substitutes himself with a nearby object.  
**Akaame no kiri** - (secret technique) Blades of the red rain - More or less several successive **Akatan **techniques.  
**Kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**Akamaru **- (secret technique) Red circle - **Akatan **that is not an arc, but a complete circle.  
**Gogyou fuuin** - (A-rank) Five elements seal - This is a fuinjutsu technique. User forms an elemental seal on each of his fingers, one for each of the following five "elements": water, metal, earth, fire and wood. This seal disrupts chakra control of its target and makes jinchuuriki unable to communicate with his/her bijuu. Those jinchuuriki who have "even" seals are affected much more by this "odd" seal than those who have "odd" seals themselves. Gaara's seal is assumed to be "odd" in this story. When applied to an ordinary ninja, will cause a lot of pain, most likely making the target to blacken out, and messes with his/her chakra control.  
**Fuuton: renkuudan** - (unknown rank) Wind style: drilling air projectile - User expels a ball of comressed air that explodes upon hitting something.  
**Shunshin no jutsu** - (D-rank) Body flicker technique - Moderate distance 'teleportation'.  
**Ura shishou** - (unknown rank, possibly S) Reverse four image seal - Upon activation, sucks everything within certain radius into the seal and seals it away permanently.  
**Suiton: suiryuudan no jutsu** - (B-rank) Water style: water dragon projectile technique - Creates a column of water in a shape of dragon that attacks the target.  
**Doton: doryuusou** - (unknown rank) Earth style: earthen rising spears - Stone spears raise form the ground to pierce the target.  
**Katon: housenka no jutsu** - (C-rank) Fire style: mythical fire phoenix jutsu - User exhales several small fireballs. The fireballs can have shuriken hidden within them.  
**Suiton: taihoudan** - (unknown rank) Water style: large projectile - User spits a stream of water towards the target.  
**Kyuuketsuki ryouka** - (C-rank genjutsu unique to the Akasha Chisen blade) Vampires' hunting song - Sound-based genjutsu that paralyzes everyone, other than wielder, in the small radius who hears the sound. Strong-willed ninja or genjutsu masters can overpower it.  
**Fuuton: shinkuu renpa** - (unknown rank) Wind style: vacuum successive waves - User expels several cutting wind arcs.

*** Poll**:  
The question this time is: "What should Naruto's summoning be?"  
Animal summoning (specie will be determined later if this choice wins)  
Object summoning (like Nagato's Gedou Mazou)(exact object will be determined later if this option wins)  
Akasha Bloodriver herself  
Naruto needs no summoning  
Do vote.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's (future) nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'

* * *

Special thanks to _**NARUHAREM FOREVA**_ for beta-reading this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Rivers of blood**

Mei was sitting behind her table, going through various documents on that Uzumaki guy she had collected for her. He did feel like her Naruto-kun, but with the hard life she lived she didn't believe in such miracles anymore. And, considering what she had found out so far, the chances of this Uzumaki being really Naruto weren't that big: the red-eyed swordsman could only be traced up to the northern Hi no Kuni where he boarded ship to Water country. How could her little adoptive brother end up in the Fire country when he hated Konoha so much? And if he did somehow, where he was for the last three years? Those questions had no answers so far... And above all, she had to worry about rebellion succeeding first – that bastard Mizukage must pay for what he did!

**~/ *** \~**

A little more than a hundred miles away, Naruto was working his way through various rumors he had collected about the sotaicho. Her name, indeed, was Mei, but the info he had went back only a year and a half, when she first took command of a small squad of rebels in the forests of south-west Water country. Where she came from and, if she really was his nee-chan, what she was doing for the first twenty months after the village was destroyed, he had no clues... And with the childhood he had had, Naruto never relied on a chance, unless there was no other option at all, so no matter how much he wanted his Mei to be alive, he decided not to hope on it too much... It will only hurt more in the end if his nee-chan really died, while he made himself believe she did not...

**~/ *** \~**

It was about three month since Naruto had joined the rebellion, and so far, despite his high-jounin level powers, he was just a 'genin' there. And as such, he was stuck with cordoning the fort yet again. At least this way he could continue his training with the help of shadow clones... Or, no... Kyuubi jinchuuriki's enhanced vision picked up an abject flying towards the fort. On pure instinct, he drew Akasha and estimated projectile's trajectory.

"**Fuuton: shinkuu renpa!**" Several arcs of the cutting wind were launched from the blade and a couple of seconds later, one of them hit the projectile. It exploded rather violently in the air, alerting everyone that the fort was under the attack. A minute later the whole garrison – forty three ninjas of various strengths – were on the walls, all of them trying to determine where the enemy was and what to do. In this minute Naruto managed to destroy two more mortar shells, though the other two managed to reach the fort, thankfully exploding in the unused yard...

Those who had really long-range techniques were also helping the red-eyed shinobi to destroy incoming shells... With Ao away on some political business, the fort's commander was a large jounin named Kaoru Akayama. And the man, it seemed, didn't know what to do in the situation like this... "Damn it, do something, we can't be shooting down those shells forever!" Naruto growled.

"Do what? We have nothing against such a long-range artillery!" Kaoru shouted back above the sound of another explosion.

"Improvise then!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki growled as he sent a wind blade at yet another incoming projectile... Silence was his answer, as the current commander of the fort had no ideas what to do. "Damn! Everyone, **listen!**" The blond swordsman yelled, unconsciously amplifying his voice by drawing some youki from the Kyuubi. "**Those with the long-range wind and fire attacks, try hitting shells while they are in the air. Earth and Water users, you protect the fort walls. The rest with me!**"

"Why should we listen to your orders, genin!" Kaoru snapped at him... Naruto slowly turned to the man and looked into his eyes with his own, red and slitted, ones.

"Because I have an idea what to do." That shut the man up finely.

* * *

Five minutes later, Naruto, temporarily raised into the position of squad commander by his fellow rebels, was leading a group of fourteen ninjas into the forest, behind which the Mizukage's mortar team should have being situated. Suddenly he stopped and raised his hand, making the others stop as well.

"There is an enemy outpost behind that tree line." The red-eyed swordsman said, pointing to where he had spotted the Mizukage's ninja in the entrenchment. "Prepare explosive tags – we're gonna blow them up." He added, at the same time creating several explosive shadow clones and **henge**'ing them into the squad members. Then he drew several kunai with explosive tags attached to them. "Fire!" At his command the whole strike team threw the paper bombs towards the trench. Moment later there was a mass of explosions, followed by the weak moans of pain frrom those, who survived. "Hide!" Naruto ordered then, sensing a group of ninja approaching their position, to find the reason for the explosions, most likely. Second later, only ten clones were standing in the small clearing...

"And what do we have here?" Asked the leader of the jounin cell that appeared from behind the destroyed entrenchment. "Capture these non-humans. I want to personally torture those who stand in our way to peace." Before his squad-mates could do anything, Naruto send his clones a mental command to execute the plan, and they rushed towards the Mizukage's shinobi. "Look, they are even attacking like some stupid beast!" Sneered the man... As soon as the clones were close enough, they self-destructed, turning the clearing into one big fireball. Only one of the jounin survived this hell, but a kunai to his head send him after his squad-mates.

"OK, everyone..." Naruto said as soon as the strike team crowded back together. "Now we are gonna split in two and attack their main forces from the sides. This should catch them by surprise as they are expecting frontal attack. Destroying enemy forces is our main task, but should we capture these mine throwers, it would assist us greatly in our fights in the future. So, try not to damage them much. And also try not to detonate the ammunition, unless you have no other option."

"Hai!" His fellow rebels chorused, before splitting into two groups on their own. Naruto's group was small and had only five ninja besides him. The other had nine shinobi and kunoichi. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki nodded, and the teams separated to do their missions...

* * *

True to Naruto's guess, the mortar troop was stationed behind the forest, and consisted of two mine throwers and three crates of shells. All was guarded by a ninja squadron. Also true to his guess, most of that squadron was waiting for a frontal attack, though a good part of them was protecting flanks and rear...

'_Shall we show them our power, Akasha-shishou?_' Naruto asked in his mind as he got ready to draw his crimson sword with his right hand, while a kunai with a flash tag appeared in his left one.

'**_Very well, Naruto-sama._**' The vampiress replied, making sure to purr his name. There was no denying it: slowly but surely this blond ...man was worming his way into her heart ...in a truly manly way. '**_Ni-kon hei: rengou!_**' They said simultaneously. With this technique, Akasha had her spirit temporary moved from the sword into Naruto's body, drastically increasing their battle effectiveness... Of course, this union had a great downside of two souls controlling one body, so it took them more than a year to learn to synch their controls to be able to fight in this mode effectively.

"We attack in ten seconds. Be ready." The blond swordsman, whose eyes were now glowing blood-red a little, told his teammates, while throwing the kunai into the air above enemies' position. As soon as the tag went off, temporary blinding some of the Mizukage's ninjas, the rebels launched their attack... Naruto and his five teammates charged into the mass of disoriented Mist ninjas, dispatching them rather easily... But this lasted only a couple of seconds. Then the Kiri shinobi came to their senses and launched counterattacks. Still, with half of their numbers already down, the Mizukage's forces were hard pressed to quickly change the situation back into their favor...

Naruto was fighting two chuunin – and was winning – when Akasha warned him about a new powerful opponent, that was going to attack them. Seeing it as a sure sign of incoming danger, the red-eyed blond jumped to the side. Moment later, both of his current opponents jumped away as an arc of crimson energy sailed through the place where he was moment before. Naruto looked to where the attack came from and saw an about six feet tall man who seemed to be in his early fifties. The man was wearing blue ANBU-style clothes with a dark-red cape over them. He had short brown hair and long graying mustaches. In his hands there was big sword, that looked like an enlarged katana, with red kanji written along the blade.

"And you are... Aoba Seiren, the eldest member of the seven swordsmen and the fifth seat among them." The red-eyed blond said, while inwardly cursing himself for the bad luck of running into such powerful opponent.

"You know about me, young swordsman?" Aoba asked almost lazily. "But you have me at loss there as I don't know your name." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki shrugged, while assuming defensive position.

"My name is irrelevant." It was Aoba's turn to shrug.

"Very well. **Akatan!**" The man did a horizontal slash, and an arc of crimson energy flew from the sword, towards Naruto. Akasha, who right now controlled her wielder's lower body, moved them out the attack's path, while the Kyuubi jinchuuriki sent **fuuton: shinkuu gyoku** back at Aoba, followed closely by several low-level wind blades. Of course, Aoba wasn't one of the seven swordsmen of the Hidden Mist for nothing, and easily escaped all those attacks. The red-eyed blond saw his opponent disappear from his position, replaced by a random pebble, and instantly knew that he could be attacked from any direction any second now. This time his own battle-honed reflexes were the first one to sense the danger, and following them, Naruto raised his sword to block the attack from the right. ...Moment later the two swords clanged against each other. Even without turning his head, Naruto could sense his opponent's surprise at the way he had blocked the attack. Using this to his advantage, the red-eyed blond twirled inside man's guard and kneed him on his stomach, sending him flying backwards.

"**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba!**" Naruto sent a wind blade after the man. Of course, Aoba just **kawarimi**'ed away. Suddenly the blonde's senses alerted him about an attack from behind. He tried to dodge it, but the swordsman was very fast and caught Naruto before he got out of the attack's way, managing to cut jinchuuriki's left arm. Naruto then substituted himself with a branch of some tree that lay on the ground good twenty meters away, created a single wind clone – he had finished the jutsu just a couple of weeks ago – and had it **kawarimi** back. He did it so fast that his opponent, even if he saw the whole thing, couldn't stop his attack it time not to cut the clone. The clone exploded into wind blades that Aoba somehow managed to avoid.

"You are quite good." The swordsman of the Mist commented, as he readied himself for the next attack he was going to use. "**Akaame no kiri!**" Multiple red arcs of energy raced from Aoba's blade towards Naruto. The red-eyed blond **kawarimi**'ed himself with a Mist ninja that tried to sneak upon him. Poor man was reduced to pieces of meat as the attack landed on him, but Naruto himself didn't get away unscathed – he now had two bleeding wounds on his legs.

"Damn!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki hissed. Unfortunately for him, the swordsman continued his attack, forcing Naruto on defensive, as powerful strikes rained on him... Knowing that he needed to change this fast, the blond rebel drew some Kyuubi's youki and, multiplying his strength with it, threw Aoba away. Of course, the man recovered from this before he even touched the ground again, and got ready to unleash another powerful attack on his opponent. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki, though, acted faster, and summoned a dozen of **kage bunshin**. Without wasting any time, the clones dashed towards Aoba, changing their directions and switching around all the time. The real red-eyed blond too was attacking, just behind his doppelgangers.

"**Akamaru!**" The Kiri swordsman spun around, sending a ring of crimson energy from his sword. Most of the Naruto's clones were destroyed – only three managed to dodge the deadly attack – and their creator got hit too. Thankfully, the armor west he wore protected all but his cloak from the damage. As the real Naruto was recovering from the attack he took, two of his clones managed to latch onto Aoba's arms, while the third one rammed shoulder first into man's chest, making him fall down onto the ground. The swordsman of the mist punched the clone on his right arm, making it dispel, before ending the existence of the clone that rammed into him.

"**Gogyou fuuin!**" Just as the cloud of smoke from the clone dissipated, the real Kyuubi jinchuuriki rejoined the fight, immediately thrusting his arm into his opponent's gut, placing the seal there... While the five elements seal wasn't the best one to seal someone's chakra array, far from it in fact, it was still one of the few that could easily be placed without ink. That, and it caused quite a bit of pain to the recipient, generally knocking him unconscious in a matter of seconds... Seeing the man on the ground unconscious, Naruto sighed a bit tiredly and canceled the union with Akasha – while the jutsu used about as much chakra as **henge** did, it was mentally straining and keeping it up for a long time was really hard... Taking a deep breath, the red-eyed blond surveyed the battlefield. The fourteen of his comrades had lost four and two more were seriously wounded, while the Mizukage's forces lost twenty. And with one of the seven out of the fight, the chances were that the rebels will be victorious...

"Die, mudblood monster!" A Mist chuunin yelled, sending a rain of shuriken towards Naruto. The red-eyed blond was caught by surprise and barely avoided being killed by the projectiles. Still, one of the shuriken scratched his right cheek, while two cut his arm and two more on his leg. He got ready to counterattack, but instead nearly doubled in pain – the shuriken were covered with acid. Ignoring the pain as best as he could, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, avoided another valley of thrown weapons, before charging towards the chuunin that attacked him. The man drew a dagger, preparing to block Akasha, but as Naruto infused his sword with wind chakra, it easily cut through the steel and, just a moment later, man's neck... He stopped for a second to recover – the acidic burns hurt quite bad, but he had no time for pain right now...

"**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba!**" Mizukage's jounin that was busy fighting against two rebels, never saw the wind blade rushing towards him from behind.

"Thanks, Uzumaki." Dark-brown haired man in his early thirties, Sanrin of the Mori clan, said.

"Hm..." Naruto said, dodging a kunai sent at him. "I need someone to cover me while I seal mortars and a crate of shells away. Once that is done, we can blow up the rest of enemies and return back to the fort." Sanrin nodded.

"Ojika, Ushiji, help cover up the commander!" He shouted, making the Kyuubi jinchuuriki sigh – the man more or less had told the enemy that they had some very important plan. But, deciding that, should they survive, he'll scold the man later, Naruto went to work. The whole procedure of sealing even such big objects like mortars or ammo crates was relatively fast, taking only about thirty seconds for each object, but, still, doing something like this on the battlefield was ...dangerous to say the least... But the four of his comrades were able to protect Naruto while he and his clones were at work. Even if it cost them the life of Ojika...

"Take the dead and wounded and get ready to get the hell out of here!" Naruto shouted as soon as the sealing was complete, while picking up unconscious swordsman of the Mist he had defeated. Making sure that all of his comrades were at the safe distance, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki pointed Akasha at one of the two remaining ammo crates. "**Fuuton: renkuudan!**" As soon as the jutsu was released, he **shunshin**'ed away. A moment later there was a powerful explosion that turned everything within two hundred meters into ash.

* * *

When the attack group returned to the fort, they found out that a part of outer wall was heavily damaged and one of the two barracks was completely destroyed, as were the mess and the left wing of the training center. Also, fort defenders lost seven and had fifteen wounded. Still, most of the rebels could agree that it could have been much worse... After the dead ones were buried with honors, the survivors of the attack started repairing the fort. Also, Aoba Seiren, while really hard to crack, was successfully interrogated. This gave the rebels information about the money caravan that will be sent to Kirigakure the following week, as well as some info on the remaining high-profile ninjas of the Hidden Mist. Since the man was loyal to Mizukage as the title, not Yagura personally, it was decided that he will be kept alive until Ao-taicho would decide his fate.

**~/ *** \~**

Ao, when he returned four days after the attack, it seemed, took the news about what happened well. The was sad that twelve of his comrades were dead and seventeen more ended in the medical ward, but he was also happy with what the rebellion gained that day: with the long-range artillery, the siege of Kirigakure, that will happen eventually, would be a much easier task, and with the information that the captured swordsman shared, they will be able to cut the funding of Yagura's army, weakening it...  
Because of his actions, even if they did cost a dozen lives of the rebellion ninja, Naruto got the promotion to the rank of chuunin with a recommendation for promotion to the jounin rank – the young red-eyed swordsman proved that he was a good commander as well as a good fighter.  
At the same time, Kaoru was demoted back to chuunin rank as his indecision could have been fatal. The man was really unhappy with this, but he could nothing as that was the decision of the fort commander...

**~/ *** \~**

Oh, how much Naruto did hate these kinds of missions. No, he had patience for such things, but he was one of the ones who preferred action, so laying low on the cliff, waiting for hours for the Mizukage's caravan to appear really got on his nerves... Finally, another two hours later, it finally appeared: three carts with chests full of money and thirty chuunin and jounin that were the convoy.

"It's guarded really good. I doubt our forces at the outpost would be enough to crush those." A chuunin from the Yashitora clan said with a sigh. His brother, also chuunin, nodded in agreement.

"Well..." Naruto said a bit cautiously. "Ask for the help. I'm going to make an ambush at the Black river cliff side. I think I can keep them occupied for long enough for our reinforcements to arrive." For some reason, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki felt a strong desire to destroy many of the Mizukage's shinobi right now. Oh, well... The Yashitora brothers nodded and went on with writing a message to the outpost, while the red-eyed shinobi headed into the forest and towards the Black river.

**~/ *** \~**

Of course, for someone with Naruto's chakra reserves, no matter how good he was at suppressing them, to stay undetected from the group of thirty ninja, who, without question, had a sensor among them, was nigh impossible. But as he was alone, the Mist ninja were certain that they wouldn't be attacked yet and were a bit relaxed – after all, who was crazy enough to attack when outnumbered thirty to one?

Unfortunately for them, Naruto was crazy enough. They found it out when he jumped off the cliff at the jounin in the center of the group with Akasha drawn. He was so surprised that he just drew his own sword in defense, but thanks to the wind chakra running through Naruto's blade, it was cut into two. Along with the man. Not giving his enemies any chance to recover, the red-eyed shinobi continued his assault by throwing his sword – with ninja wire attached to it, of course – at the nearest of his opponents...

Seeing that he had no weapon, two of the Mist ninja tried to attack him from the sides with their swords, but their lives were ended as soon as they were close enough to be reached by the jinchuuriki's wrist blades... Naruto threw one of the bodies into a group of Kiri shinobi behind him, while, using the other as a shield, charged forward to retrieve Akasha... It took him a couple of seconds of dodging water whips to reach his blade, but once it was back in his hands, the red-eyed rebel **shunshin**'ed into the group of Mist ninja on the other side of the battlefield. Slapping a sealing tag on the back of the nearest enemy, Naruto quickly **shunshin**'ed away.

"**Ura shishou!**" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki whispered, making a single-handed handseal to activated the tag. Instantly a large black sphere appeared around the man who had the tag on his back. Second later everything within the sphere was sucked into the tag to be sealed away permanently – that was a portion of the ground and eight Kiri ninja who were unlucky to be close enough.

"**Suiton: suiryuudan no jutsu!**" Several of the Mizukage's dogs roared, sending water dragons towards the man who attacked them. Too bad, Naruto **kawarimi**'ed away, using one of the rocks that were as thick as black berries there. Several substitutions later, the red-eyed shinobi appeared on the flank of that group.

"**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba!**" First two Mist ninja didn't even have time to react when the wind blade tore through them. The rest, somehow, managed to escape death.

"**Doton: doryuusou!**"

"**Katon: housenka no jutsu!**"

"**Suiton: taihoudan!**" Naruto barely had any time to **kawarimi** away, as three powerful techniques were sent towards him. Still, earthen spikes managed to tear bottom of his cloak. And one of them even left a gash on the blonde's left leg.

"Damn!" Naruto swore. The mist ninja had recovered from his surprise attack and started fighting more effectively faster than he had anticipated... Still, he was sure that he could overcome them, though it would be much much harder now. "**Fuuton: renkuudan!**" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki didn't have time to see the results of this jutsu as he had to escape another valley of fireballs and two water dragons. Still, the screams of pain told the red-eyed shinobi that he had hit at least one of his opponents. "**Kyuuketsuki ryouka!**" Stunning the group that tried to sneak attack him from behind, the blond jinchuuriki **shunshin**'ed high into the air. From there he threw several kunai with explosive tags attached to them, aiming for the groups of Mist ninja. Then he **shunshin**'ed back to the ground, as far away from the explosions as was possible without leaving the battlefield.

"Die mudblood monster!" Shouted one of the Mist chuunin that was close to the position Naruto reappeared at before charging towards the cloaked blond with his ninja-to drawn... The man may have been a more experienced fighter than Naruto, but he always, it seemed, fought against someone who used a certain kenjutsu style. So he could do only so much against seemingly random attacks that were the 'style' Naruto learned from Kirabi. Needless to say, the chuunin didn't last more than thirty seconds, before Akasha tore through his throat... While Naruto was dealing with the man, another of the Mist ninja attacked him with a kunai thrown at his heart from behind. Thankfully for the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, his armor vest saved his life once again. Picking the now-dead man in front of him, the red-eyed shinobi threw him at his latest attacker, forcing him to stop whatever the jutsu he was preparing to launch.

"**Fuuton: shinku renpa!**" Because of the dead body flying towards him the man didn't see Naruto's wind blades until it was too late... Naruto sighed tiredly: in this short, but violent, fight, he had already used more than two thirds of his chakra. And his wound, while not life-threatening, was bleeding badly, preventing from moving effectively at the same time. Still, with only five opponents left – it looked like the explosive tags killed more than he had thought – Naruto was positive that he could finish them all... The Kyuubi jinchuuriki was forced to return to reality as he saw a couple of kunai thrown at him. Only when he had them blocked with Akasha, he saw explosive tags wrapped around the handles. "Shit!" Even with the sealless **kawarimi** the red-eyed shinobi wasn't fast enough to escape the explosion unscathed – his face and hands were burnt, and good part of his cloak was heavily damaged.

"We got him now! That monster is finally dead!" One of the surviving chuunin said when the explosion occurred.

"Are you sure?" A pained hissing voice asked him from behind. Turning about as fast as he could, the man saw a wounded and burnt, but alive, Naruto. Then he was decapitated. Using substitution once again, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki escaped another water dragon sent to kill him. **Shunshin**'ing between two Mist ninja, the red-eyed rebel quickly killed them with his retractable wrist blades. '_One against two... I can do this._' Naruto reassured himself – he could already feel signs of light chakra exhaustion and blood loss.

'**_Damn it, hairless monkey, you are as bloodthirsty as I am._**' The nine-tailed fox commented from within the seal, complementing on its container. The blond jinchuuriki just scowled and **shunshin**'ed next to one of the two remaining Mizukage's ninja. The man was fast enough to try to block Akasha with his own sword, but Naruto once again showed that normal blade was next to useless in blocking wind-enhanced one – both the man and his sword were now cut into two. Sighing, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki started slowly walking, limping on his wounded leg, towards the last remaining opponent, a chuunin that was visibly shaking with fear. The man, after witnessing twenty nine of his comrades killed by this man, didn't even try to defend himself much. Naruto, though, only cut him enough to put out of the fight for good.

"I need you to pass my message to Mizukage. Tell the three-tailed bastard that his days are counted." With that the red-eyed rebel turned around and, summoning two shadow clones, went to the carts with money...

* * *

When the rebel reinforcements from the outposts arrived to the Black river, they saw Naruto, tired, burnt and covered in blood – mostly from the killed Mist ninja – and two of his clones leading three horse-pulled carts... As soon as the Kyuubi jinchuuriki saw them, he dispelled the clones and fell unconscious.

* * *

**"Roaring dragon" mortar (mine thrower)**

**type**: siege artillery, heavy mine thrower  
**caliber**: 155 mm / 6.102 inch  
**length**: 12 calibers / 186 cm / 72.254 inch  
**weight**: 3 630 kg  
**effective radius**: 0.64 ↔ 5.37 km  
**rate of fire**: up to 4 shots per minute  
**ammunition**: shells  
**shell types**: high-explosive  
**shell weight**: 17 kg  
**shell length**: 421 mm / 16.22 inch

The "Roaring dragon" mine thrower was developed in the Snow country about three years after the end of the Third Great Shinobi war, but only six test prototypes were created – Dotou decided that the weapon was too expensive and too inaccurate for his tastes. So the created units were sold, ending up in possession of the Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura. Later, Yagura decided to test his new 'toys' against the Kuroi jurin fort, occupied by rebels, but, alas, the mortar team he sent there was destroyed before the data about battle effectiveness of the weapon could be collected.

* * *

That's all folks! Leave me a **review**.

~~~ **Merry Christmas!** ~~~


	8. The Genocide

Hello, everyone. I'm back with the newest chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story for your enjoyment. This chapter is a bit small, but three next ones should redeem me for that as they will be about the siege of the Kirigakure no Sato.

*** Review response**:  
**Naginator**, **nicklaren**, **fuuinkami**, **sh8ad8ow**, **RasenShuriken92**, **Danfrogger**, **LbcLostKid**, **fanficreader71**, **karthik9**, **ogihcI ikasoruK**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **Dark Insomniacs**, **FerPeinRikudou**, **Drust**, **Lycan91**, **Reishin Amara**, **Umbra8191**, **imgonnadie**, **Floating On An Akatsuki Cloud**, **Rixxell Stryfe**, **Fayneir**, **Zero Gawain**, **dark zues**, thanks, folks!  
**Icecce**, **Garuda 1 Talisman**, **PotterFrkInTx**, **naruchan84**, Naruto and Mei will finally get together during the forth chapter after this one (once Yagura is defeated).  
**RE5 forever**, would like to read that one.  
**Hakkyou no Yami**, I still may have Akasha as the third girl (from time to time) for Naruto, especially since 54% voted for her becoming Naruto's summon (and I have an idea how to make it that way - summon, I mean).  
**OutlawKnight**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, Aoba will be back - he's the one who follows and once he sees that 'bloodline' side is 'the future', he'll join them. Yes, I know, he's not a safe man to have in your forces, but he's quite useful, especially for the purpose of training a certain canon swordsman of the seven...  
**warriorx559**, sorry, but the majority voted for a certain red-haired vampiress as Naruto's summon. But I'll file crocodile summons for the future ideas.  
**luffyxrobin-luffyxnami**, not sure, but it's more probable than not that there will be at least one time for them. It's even possible, that I'll include Akasha into the pairing.  
**The real leghendary supersayji**, while 'N' in my nickname stands for 'Night', NILF variant isn't a bad one either =) . You are a bit wrong as Iwa doesn't specialize in taijutsu much, so anywhere but Konoha Naruto is a jounin/jounin+ level ninja. In Konoha he'll be a tokubetsu jounin (?sp) for he isn't that much a fan of teamwork, having grown up always relying on himself. No, don't take it wrong, he con work with others in a team quite well, but he's still a 'loner'. As for Yagura - wait and see what I'll make of him.  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, heh.  
**hentai18ancilla**, who said I was going to redeem them?  
**Lednacek**, I agree with your comment on shunshin, but it's delay isn't that great, so under certain circumstances it can work quite well as an in-battle jutsu. As for others not useing it and kawarimi... Kakashi used them a lot in the first season. (unless he needed to be hit, like with Zabuza), but, alas, not many do see that these two simple techniques have this much battle potential: avoiding being hit by an attack is much easier (and safer) than trying to block it.  
**Wyrtha**, Konoha will know him by his nickname in this chapter already. As for Naruto/Mei... that will happen after Yagura's Kiri falls.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, indeed, Naruto's reputation will steam from his battles. And his nickname (while borrowed from "_**Red eyes**_" manga") represents his ...interactions with mist ninja under Yagura's command well.  
**Kojiro Kun**, I'm not ideal... oh damn it... =)  
**refused**, you see canon somewhere there? other than several characters and backgrounds, I mean.  
**yama-sama**, English? still, I understood that you wanted to repost it somewhere for more people to read. Just give me a credit for the story, and I'm OK with that.  
**Yizz0The0Zombie**, will correct that. If I'm not too lazy. =)  
**NANLIT**, overjoyed they will be. Hopefully, I'll be able to fit that into just m rating. =)  
**XoreandoX**, thanks. I'm happy that you find this story interesting.

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Fuuton: kiatsu no heki** - (B-rank) Wind style: air pressure wall - Original jutsu. For a couple of moments creates a protective sphere of wind around the user.  
**Katon: housenka no jutsu** - (C-rank) Fire style: Mythical Fire Phoenix** - **this fire jutsu creates series of small fireballs. The ninja can also hurl a projectile which is covered in these same flames.  
**Fuuton: kaze no kiri** - (B-rank) Wind style: wind drill - A drilling wind projectile.

*** Poll results**:  
question: "What should Naruto's summoning in "_**Ronin**_" be?"  
- **Akasha Bloodriver herself** - 90 votes / 54%  
- Animal summoning (specie will be determined later if this choice wins) - 50 votes / 30%  
- Object summoning (like Nagato's Gedou Mazou)(exact object will be determined later if this option wins) - 23 votes / 13%  
- Naruto needs no summoning - 3 votes / 1%

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

* * *

_This chapter IS NOT beta-read. Yet._

* * *

**chapter 8: the Genocide**

The Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura, was in a very bad mood right now: his money caravan was successfully attacked by the rebellion. Well, by a single rebel, who somehow managed to kill twenty nine of his jounin and chuunin and only spared the thirtieth to send him a message that implied that the rebels knew not only about his jinchuuriki status, but also exactly which bijuu he did contain... Damn it, when the chuunin told him the message from the mysterious rebel, he was so angry that had decapitated the poor ninja right where he stood... Taking a deep breath to calm down and think rationally, Yagura pulled some paper and an inkwell from one of the drawers of his table and quickly scribed the message to the counterintelligence department of Kiri ANBU to add that mysterious rebel to the bingo books as an S-rank ninja with a kill on sight order. As he didn't knew rebel's name, Yagura decided to give him the nickname based on the way the late chuunin had described the fight...

Thus, the S-rank ninja by the nickname 'the Genocide' was born.

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto was standing atop of the middle mast of a trading ship that was heading west, to the main continent of the Elemental nations. His new black cloak with artificially tattered bottom and big dark-red blood-like stain that was over the hood and shoulders was billowing around him in the pre-storm wind.

The thoughts of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki were on his latest mission: to hire a squad of ninja from the Fuuma clan – not that the rebellion got money they were preparing to strike the heart of Yagura's 'kingdom', the Hidden Mist village itself to win the war once and for all. And while the rebellion was strong, siege of the Hidden Village was a little beyond what they could do on their own, thus the need to hire some help. The Fuuma clan was chosen because they were the strongest clan that had no known affiliations with any Hidden Villages, and so the reformed Mist would not be indebted to any for hiring their ninja. That, and Naruto's deed to the Fuuma clan was not forgotten yet, so the chances of them agreeing were high...

From being a full-fledged jounin now Naruto knew that the mortars he and the rest of the group had captured were studied and replicated, giving the rebellion a weapon they needed so much for the siege. He also had heard that the west part of the rebellion finally became more or less a united group, so the three-tailed bastard's ninja forced now had even harder time, signifying that the victory wasn't far away from the rebellion. And this made the Kyuubi jinchuuriki feel good from knowing that the man who had ordered the death of his adoptive family – and countless other families of kekkei genkai holders – would be brought to justice soon.

**~/ *** \~**

Rokushou Aoi was walking through the forest towards the Hidden Rain village. He had dealt with a ninja cell from Konoha that was sent to kill him not long ago – the Raijin sword was pretty amazing and was the reason why the young jounin managed to defeat his pursuers... Suddenly Aoi saw a black and maroon blur move past him, running up in the trees. The Konoha missing-nin recognized the sword on other ninja's back – that was 'the Genocide', some S-rank shinobi that appeared out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago and had a healthy bounty form Mizukage on his head... Aoi snorted. As if that man could really be an S-rank. Most like he had just insulted the pompous bastard of the Mizukage and had escaped the immediate execution... So, he was just an easy money a missing-nin like him just couldn't let by...

Opening his first inner gates for a brief moment Aoi pushed himself after the other ninja, quickly gaining on him, especially with 'the Genocide' sensing his hostile intentions and jumping down onto the ground.

"Hey, you!" The Konoha missing-nin shouted as he landed not far from his target. The cloaked ninja lifted his eyebrow as a response, not that Aoi could see that thanks to the hood. "I need money and you just happen to have had annoyed some powerful men in this world. So how about I kill you and get those money?" 'the Genocide' made no visible moves.

"You can try, but remember: you can't jump above your head." The cloaked ninja – Naruto – replied.

"As if some little ninja like you can be a match for a jounin like me!" With theses words Aoi drew several poisoned needles and threw them at his opponent. 'the Genocide' moved his left hand into a single-handed handseal.

"**Fuuton: kiatsu no heki!**" For a brief moment a transparent sphere of wind appeared around the man, protecting him for the needles. Aoi scowled and tried again, doubling amount of needles, as well as adding a couple of kunai into the mix. The result was the same: no one of the projectile could pierce the protective wall of wind.

"Why you!" The Konoha missing-nin yelled, while flashing through handseals. "**Katon: housenka no jutsu!**" 'the Genocide' moved – more like floated – to the side, as the small fireballs sailed past him harmlessly.

"As you can see, this won't work on me." The cloaked shinobi observed calmly. "But that doesn't mean will just stand there..." Aoi could barely see his opponent draw his sword and point it at him. "**Fuuton: kaze no kiri!**" A drilling projectile of wind sped towards Konoha missing-nin, who wasn't fast enough to avoid it completely, and a nasty cut had appeared on his left arm... Aoi growled in anger and drew the Raijin sword.

"I wanted end you nicely, but you have asked for it!" A moment later Naruto saw the curved lightning-yellow blade of the Raijin sword extend form the handle. Not wasting any more time, the Konoha missing-nin attacked, and, while he was good with a sword, he was nowhere near the level of Kiraabi or the Seven swordsmen of the Mist, so Naruto had little problem with blocking the attack. And after a moment of struggling, Raijin's lightning blade broke under the onslaught of the wind-enhanced blood-red blade of Akasha. "Wha?" Aoi asked in surprise.

"Raijin is a very powerful sword, but it is of lightning element. And wind always tops lightning." Of course, once reactivated, Raijin would repair its blade, but the Kyuubi jinchuuriki wasn't going to let that happen: continuing his own swing, the blond cloaked ninja directed his faithful Akasha towards Aoi himself, easily bypassing man's defense and leaving a potentially fatal wound on his chest. Not stopping his attack, Naruto drew a kunai from the sleeve of his cloak and threw it at man's neck, ending his life.

'_**That man was too pathetic to brag about being strong like that.**_' Akasha said to her wielder, and the Kyuubi jinchuuriki couldn't help but agree with the vampiress: the man was too full of himself. '_**Still, he somehow got that Raijin sword, and you'll need to deal with it. You can't just keep it as not only it will have Konoha after you, but I will resent you for that decision.**_' Naruto slowly nodded, being sure that he didn't want Akasha as his 'enemy'.

'_I don't want to return it to the Leaf._' He sent her his reply. '_But if I remember correctly, the sword belonged to the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. And by all rights, it should reside within the clan, as it still has living members._' Naruto got an equivalent of nod from the vampire princess. '_So I shall send the Raijin to Tsunade Senju._' After a small pause, the red-eyed blond continued. '_But the rest of his things can be mine. We're are at war and wasting resources is just stupid._' Nodding to himself, Naruto stated going through the rest of man's things. Unfortunately, there were no special scrolls or the likes, just standard jounin equipment... But there was the latest bingo book. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki opened It and flipped through the pages, looking for new missing-nins he could use as an extra source of income, while on the main continent... But just as he entered the S-rank section, his eyes landed on a rather crudely drawn picture of a man in a blood-stained cloak, with hood hiding his face – not two glowing red eyes, though – and a very familiar blade in his hands. '_Hey, that's me!_'

'_**I like the way you look there. And the nickname they gave you is quite fitting.**_' Akasha 'whispered' to him hotly. Of course Naruto knew that she referred mostly to the fact that he was covered in his enemies' blood, but knew better than to call her names for her little blood fetish.

'_We need to find the closest town that has ninja postmen to sent the Raijin to its rightful owner. Tsunade isn't known to be easy to find, and we don't have time to look for her._' Naruto thought to the vampiress, and she nodded in agreement.

**~/ *** \~**

After finding a postninja willing to search for Tsunade to give her the messaging scroll (with Raijin sword sealed in it), Naruto traveled towards the location of the Fuuma clan secret village. While the barrier around it prevented him from getting the exact coordinates, his training with Motoi and, later, Kiraabi allowed him to narrow the village's location down to a region of about fifteen by fifteen kilometers.

Finding a good spot next to the small river, Naruto set the camp for himself. After he was done with that, created a shadow clone and had it transform into an eagle. Attaching a message to the Fuuma clan elders to the 'eagle's' leg, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki let the clone fly away...

The response was quite fast as a group of Fuuma clansmen approached his camp early in the next morning. Naruto easily recognized Arashi and Kagerou, but he didn't remember the rest by their names. Unfortunately, they all seemed to recognize him by the picture in the bingo book. And only that way...

"Genocide? What are you doing here?" Arashi asked in a very unfriendly tone. At that the Kyuubi jinchuuriki rose from his meditative position and looked into man's eyes. Arashi paled a little but didn't brake the eye contact, which spoke volumes about the strength of his character.

"I have a job proposition for your clan, but deemed it impolite to just wander into your village and ask. Of course, if you don't want money I can offer, I'm sure I can find some other clans that would agree." Naruto made a small pause. "And, of course, I may be 'the Genocide', but don't you think that being rude to a S-rank ninja who just wants to talk is a good idea?" Arashi flinched a little, recognizing his mistake. "And, finally, I'm wounded. None of you had recognized me. Did that much time pass?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said, pointing to Akasha Chisen blade on his back... Kagerou was the first one to understand what that meant.

"Naruto-ku-u-un!" She squealed quite uncharacteristically for herself and launched herself at him. The red-eyed blond wasn't expecting this kind of reaction and had to make a couple of steps backwards, when the green-haired girl jumped at him, wrapping her arms around him in a friendly hug... Once the Kyuubi jinchuuriki managed to extract himself from girl's embrace, he started explaining what job he did have.

"...And while the rebellion is willing to pay seven thousands ryo bimonthly per ninja you send us – the first payment in advance – but remember, there is a war out there, and we don't want anybody who isn't at least a B-rank ninja. I think, your clan can spare us three cells without significant decrease in your defenses... But you must let your elders decide, if you are willing to help us or not. I will wait there for your answer for one week." The Fuuma clan members nodded and headed back to their village – Kagerou after Naruto gave her a kiss on the top of her head – while the Kyuubi jinchuuriki returned to meditating, while thinking about rebellion's plan to win the war.

**~/ *** \~**

Tsunade Senju, the last member of once great and powerful Senju clan, the only female sannin – though with Orochimaru switching bodies it could be questioned – the best medic in the modern ninja world and just the strongest kunoichi in the recent history, was walking back to her hotel room, where her apprentice Shizune was waiting for her, when she was confronted by a postninja.

"Special delivery for Senju Tsunade." The man said, giving her a scroll. "Good evening, Tsunade-sama." And with those words the postninja disappeared. Remembering that her gaming session today ended with her winning several round of poker in raw – though, in total she lost much more than won – Tsunade decided that this scroll was that bad thing that should have happened to her... But after scanning it with her chakra, she found no traps, just a containment seal inside the scroll.

"What are you?" The blond sannin asked as she created a shadow clone and had it open the scroll and activate the seal to release its contents. When nothing happened, Tsunade approached her shocked clone and too found herself staring at the object that was released from the seal. Her grand-uncle's sword Raijin. There also was a small note attached to the legendary blade:

_This is yours by the right of succession. Do keep it safe, unlike Konoha did._  
_Your best-wisher._

**~/ *** \~**

It took Fuuma elders four days to agree to send twelve of their stronger ninja to help the rebellion. Out of those twelve, though, only two were noticeable: Jigumo, who had several quite unusual spider related techniques, and Kagerou, mostly because she was just fifteen and the only girl in the group. Of course, that didn't mean that Kagerou was weak, as her incredible skills with chakra threads and her earth affinity placed as an A-rank kunoichi, and, possibly, the strongest ninja in the entire group.

After briefing the group about their task in the upcoming siege of Kirigakure no Sato, Naruto had them on the way back to the Water country...

* * *

That's all, folks.  
**Read **and **Review**!


	9. Siege of Kirigakure no Sato, part I

Hello, everyone, here's the newest chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story! Enjoy!  
It's a bit shorter than the normal one, but I decided that you don't want to wait till I finish the entire thing, so I'll post the chapter in parts of roughly 2750 words. Bear with me for it.

*** Review response**:  
**fanficreader71**, **Naginator**, **fuuinkami**, **Lycan91**, **Umbra8191**, **nobother**, **Manga154**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **naruchan84**, **Psudocode Samurai**, **c im am a dragon**, **Akira Stridder**, **Garuda 1 Talisman**, **Nero Strauss**, **JokemasterX**, **Jfitzgerald**, **lakeyer**, **LbcLostKid**, **ogihcI ikasoruK**, **Reishin Amara**, **Ronin Kenshin**, **miclovesnaruto**, **eclipseX**, **Sraiden**, thanks, folks!  
**Highvalour**, heh. Never thought that I will find someone who had read "_**Red eyes**_" too. As for the song... I will look into that, but no promises.  
**Wyrtha**, both Naruto and Akasha are honorable enough to pass the sword to its rightful owned, though, really, giving to someone from the rebellion would have been a better idea.  
**HolyKnight5**, you mean, Oro' trying to convince Fuuma again? They had already 'told' him to stick his offer where the Sun doesn't shine once.  
**XoreandoX**, Naruto took everything valuable from Aoi's corpse. As for sending the body and getting money for that... Aoi is a missing-nin from Konoha. Naruto just want to stay clear of that village, if he can help it.  
**sh8ad8ow**, **xstofer**, I think Akasha will ...participate from time to time, and she IS attracted to her wielder that way, but she won't be the third girl for Naruto on the permanent basis.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, asking for Tsunade's help... I'll look into where that can be fit.  
**666 Kage**, the order will be a bit different, but the night (?evening) of passion still will be there. Plus they aren't related by blood, and they both know this, so there is nothing (Okay, there is a little) wrong with that.  
**Tutenstein**, I'll try to use it less, but... no real promises there too..  
**ShadowCub**, **Ero-Senin85**, Naruto WILL NOT help Konoha when Orochimaru tries to capture Sasuke... But there will be a small interaction between our favorite blond and Leaf ninja at one point. For about a single day, since they will have a coinciding missions. Konoha shinobi won't know that 'the Genocide' is Naruto, though.  
**The Last Fremen**, sorry, ^_^  
**Maelstorm of the Tricky Wind**, sorry, short update only.  
**ChaosKnight007**, I'm trying to have my stories beta-read, but even my betas can't catch all of my errors, an I tend to do a lot of them, when it comes to the articles - my native language has no articles, so I have some troubles using them everywhere where they are needed.  
**Rixxell Stryfe**, will think about Tsunade joining Naruto... As for the siege of Kiri, it starts now!  
**Xeiden**, actually, with the recent manga chapters I think that Konoha was the strongest village among the five just because of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Namikadze Minato.  
**Elemental Dragon Swordman**, heh.  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, well, can't have everyone totally pleased, can I?  
**Knives91**, LOL. Damn, needed to write that one for the chapter.  
**RE5 forever**, no problems.

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Fuuma hijutsu: garasu shi** - (secret technique) Fuuma secret technique: glass death - Jutsu based on Fuuma's special talents with the chakra strings. The jutsu user attaches chakra strings to the target's heart (or any other internal organ), and the the other end of the strings to a hollow glass ball. When the ball is crushed, the same happens to the target's organ.  
**Kawarimi no jutsu **- (E-rank) Change of body stance technique - User replaces himself/herself with a nearby object or other person.  
**Ni-kon hei: rengou** - (secret technique) Two soul warrior: union - Naruto allows Akasha's spirit into his body, and they control it together. This allows wider range of attacks and greatly increased situation awareness, but maintaining this 'mode' is mentally straining as one needs to control only certain muscles of his body, while completely ignoring other.  
**Katsu** - (common jutsu) Split / Explode - Does exactly what it's name says.  
**Fuuton: atsugai** - (B-rank) Wind style: pressure damage - This jutsu creates devasting wind blast.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

* * *

_Special thanks to **NARUHAREM FOREVA** for beta-reading this chapter.  
_

* * *

**chapter 9: Siege of Kirigakure no Sato, part I  
**

It took the rebellion another month after Naruto returned with Fuuma ninja to gather enough resources to be ready to siege the very heart of the Water country ninja forces where Mizukage himself resided – the Hidden Mist village. During this time the research group of the southern front managed to successfully recreate the mortars and their ammunition Naruto had captured some time before. That, along with nearly half a thousand ninja of chuunin level of power or higher was enough to try to siege Kirigakure no Sato, even if the Hidden village had at least twice more shinobi ready to fight...

With their forces ready and eager to fight for a country where bloodlines will not be oppressed, Mei and other leaders of the rebellion were creating the strategies for the attack. There were several different of how to proceed with this task, but in the end everyone agreed that the red-haired kunoichi had the best strategy. So, right now, everyone was standing in a large semi-circle around the 'generals of the rebellion' as Mei was explaining what everyone will have to do:

"...First of all, there will be three infiltration squads, each consisting of a sensor, medic and two strong fighter. Their task will be to find the most vulnerable points of the Kiri's wall and place beacon seals there. Once that done, our mortar squads will attack these points, creating entrance corridors for our main forces to enter the village." The redhead explained. "Once inside the village, our forces will split into five groups. Four of them will seize ANBU headquarters, weapon supply warehouses, power plant cluster and the I&ID center. Without those, Kirigakure will not be able to fight coordinated and their numerical advantage over us will be nigh useless... The final fifth group will head straight to the Mizukage's palace and administrative buildings. As soon as those as seized and Yagura is done, we have won." After that Mei started splitting the shinobi of the rebellion into the groups...

Naruto happened to be chosen for both the second infiltration squad and fifth group. While the fifth group consisted of roughly two hundreds of ninja, most of whom the Kyuubi jinchuuriki didn't knew, 'his' infiltration squad had both Kagerou and Ao in it, along with with a kunoichi from the southern front named Kaede – the medic of the squad. The four of them were given a rough map of their sector of Kirigakure to study, which, with help from Ao this allowed them to have a good idea of what they will have to face, once they bypassed the village walls...

**~/ *** \~**

Once the sun disappeared behind the horizon, rebellion forces began their attack. The second infiltration squad had little problems approaching the village walls, but entering the village itself was hard as the gates were heavily guarded, along with the patrols on the walls. And there were the chakra-absorption seals, meaning that just walking up the walls was impossible... But if you can't do that with chakra, you may be able to do that with the right tools – and they did have such tools, but walking up the wall using ropes would have taken more time than there was between the patrols.

The solution to this problem lay within Naruto's clones: several of them would create a distraction to draw patrolling squads of Mist ninja away from where the second infiltration squad would storm the wall. Once the clones were gone, the four ninja waited for the sounds of battle taking place somewhere away from them... They didn't have to wait for long, as Naruto's clones acted really fast. With the distraction in place, the members of the second infiltration squad bypassed the trench in front of the walls and threw hooks with ropes attached up, having them lodged at the top of the wall... Walking the fifty foot tall wall up without using chakra was surprisingly hard, but in a couple of minutes all four of them managed to successfully climb up. Once they all were there, they dislodged the hooks, leaving little evidence that they ever were there in the first place.

"Where to now, taicho?" The red-eyed blond asked Ao. The older ninja nodded towards one of the watch towers.

"Each of those have stairs that will bring us down to the ground. Plus those stairs are inside the tower, meaning no one will see us before we exit it." Naruto, Kaede and Kagerou nodded – exposing themselves to the entire ninja village by climbing down its wall was not a good idea. "But before we go there, let me check the situation: **byakugan!**" Veins around Ao's right eye bulged, signifying that he had activated his implanted eye. "We should hurry. Even if some of you clones are still there, they are resuming the patrols." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki nodded. "Also, there is a guard inside the tower on our level and two more just outside the tower on the ground level."

"We will take care of them, right?" Naruto asked, looking at Kagerou. The green-haired girl nodded. "Let's go then." As soon as they entered the tower, Kagerou used her clan's famous chakra strings to take the guard down fast and without unneeded mess, making the red-eyed blond whistle at how professionally she had dealt with the unfortunate Kiri ninja. Having no time to waste, the infiltration squad hurried down the stairs, carrying the body of the killed nin with them, while Naruto's clone took his place... Dumping the dead body into the shadows under the stairs, the four ninja approached the door leading into the village. "You said that there are two guards just outside there. Where exactly are they?" The red-eyed swordsman asked while he drew Akasha Chisen and surrounded her with wind chakra. Ao reactivated his byakugan.

"There." The older man touched the wall of the tower. As soon as he took his hand away, Naruto stabbed through the wall. Moment later there was a sound of a body hitting the ground followed by a surprised yelp form the second guard... Cutting the lock of the door, Naruto opened it and took down the second guard a second later with a precise swing of his sword.

"OK, taicho, we're in, Where to, now?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki asked as soon as the infiltration squad reached the safety of the shadows across the road. Ao opened the village map and checked which tower exactly they used to get in. Finding the squad's location, the older man followed the route to the place where he wanted to set the beacon for the artillery with his finger. Then he looked up from the map and to the left.

"There." He said. "Follow me." Ao lead the group through the shadows towards a certain section of the wall, though it didn't appear to be any different from the next one... Other than the fact that the street starting from there led straight to the warehouses. Naruto, as the fastest one in the group, was given the task of crossing the empty space between the buildings, in the shadows where the group was currently hiding and the wall, placing the tag on the said wall and returning back to the group without being seen. Of course, the blond jinchuuriki used a shadow clone to attach the tag to one of the wooden support beams of the wall that weren't affected by the chakra absorption seal – otherwise the chakra beacon would be drained of energy before the mortar squad could fire the first shells – and activated it.

"We need to get the hell out of there now." Naruto commented once his clone dispelled itself. "We have about one hundred seconds before this place is bombarded." Everyone nodded, and Ao started leading them towards the next 'weak point' he had marked on his map...

* * *

"It's too quiet, don't you think?" Kaede asked as the group approached the section of the wall with some barracks next to it. "we have yet to find any patrols inside the village." Naruto turned his head to look at the medic of the squad.

"Tss... Don't." He hissed. Unfortunately at this very moment two cells of Kiri chuunin and jounin appeared from behind the corner. "Damn you." Before the Mist ninja could even shout that they have found the intruders, Naruto sent a wind blade towards them, forcing the group on defensive. Kaede, who wasn't that great of a fighter, moved behind the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, while Ao, who didn't dare to use his fire jutsu right now, and Kagerou dashed towards the enemies with Naruto supporting them from a distance...

The blond swordsman watched in fascination as the green-haired Fuuma kunoichi palmed a much larger man in his chest, attaching a bunch of chakra threads to him, before jumping back, avoiding his counterattack. Kagerou then produced a hollow glass ball from her pouch and attached the other ends of the threads to it.

"**Fuuma hijutsu: garasu shi!**" The girl whispered, while crashing the glass ball in her hand. The man let out some strange sound, before collapsing onto the ground dead, his heart crushed along with the ball... Ao, who was using a strange mixture between some 'normal' taijutsu style and a bastardized juuken, was even more effective, as he had already taken out two Kiri jounin. Naruto himself, using wind projectiles, had killed another Mist ninja and heavily wounded two more, while keeping them all from attracting too much attention to this part of the village. The first shells exploding at the 'previous' area of their interest was helping a lot too... Deciding that the fight was dragging for too long – even if it had lasted less than twenty seconds up to now – Naruto jumped into the air and sent a wide arc of cutting towards the Kiri shinobi.

"Get away!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki shouted, making Kagerou and Ao **kawarimi** away, leaving their opponents standing alone in the way of a deadly attack... They didn't escape. Ao dusted himself and gave Naruto the other beacon tag.

"Place this on the barracks, and we will move to rendezvous point C for regrouping. I can already hear our main forces entering the village." The blond swordsman nodded and, summoning another shadow clone, passed the tag to it, before sending his doppelganger to place the said tag on the barrack's wall. As soon as the seal was placed and activated and the clone dispelled itself, Ao had the squad move towards the rendezvous point.

* * *

While the outskirts of Kirigakure no Sato were mostly filled with wooden and uninhabited houses of two floors at the most, used for various technical purposes, deeper into the village, the houses were getting taller and being built from plastered stone, and the palace where the Mizukage lived, the one situated in the very center of the village, had about fifteen floors and had its walls riveted with light-gray marble...

But before the group could reach their rendezvous point, much less the palace itself, they were stopped by about twenty Kiri ninja, most of whom were green jounin.

"Hey! There are those stupid dirty-blooded monsters Mizukage-sama is trying to cleanse from our world!" One of the rookie jounin shouted, all but pointing towards Ao's infiltration squad.

"Be careful, Kotono!" The ninja next to the first speaker reprimanded him. "One of them is 'the Genocide'. I've heard he is quite dangerous."

"Don't be ridiculous." The third Kiri shinobi said. "As if those spawns of demons could be a match for us, the real ninja!" He exclaimed. "I think Yagura-sama just wants us not to hold back against them." Naruto had had enough. Plus, the enemy already more or less knew where they were, so now there was little point in being stealthy.

"Everyone, stand back, I'll deal with them." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said to his comrades as he drew his sword. '_Ready, Akasha-shishou?_' The vampiress gave him a mental nod. "**Nikon hei: rengou!**" Using the bonus of having Akasha taking partial control over his body, the blond swordsman charged at the Mist ninja, before jumping into the air in front of them. Once there, he summoned eight explosive clones, and one normal to use as a pivot to propel himself backwards. His tactic caught the Kiri ninja a little by surprise, and four of the explosive clones managed to successfully land among them. "**Katsu!**" Naruto whispered, sending a detonation signal to the clones. The explosion was powerful, but managed to take down only five Kiri ninja, though the rest were definitely thunderstruck. As soon as he was again standing on the solid ground, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki sent a swarm of wind blades towards his opponents, this time succeeding in killing four more and wounding another seven. At this point the Kiri shinobi finally realized that his "S" ranking was well earned and – those who still could do that – retreated.

"Wow." Kagerou said, looking at Naruto. "That was cool!" The blond swordsman just grinned.

"You can discuss this later." Ao said in his 'all business' tone. "We still need to get to the rendezvous point." The two had a decency to blush a little, while Kaede laughed at them a little – until both Naruto and Ao glared at her – and the squad was back on their way to point C to meet with the main part of the rebellion forces...

They hadn't even run for three hundred yards, before Ao's byakugan picked a large group of Kiri shinobi, trying to attack them from behind. Of course, this sneak attack lost its element of surprise as soon as they were spotted, but, not being a true Hyuuga family member, Ao had problems with keeping his concentration on the entire battlefield, and, thus, he missed another group, attacking from the 'front'. The group that had kunai-launchers, much like Suna puppets had...

"Damn!" Ao swore, noting a hail of kunai flying towards him and the rest of his squad. He himself managed to duck behind a barrel, that stood on the street, while Kagerou somehow escaped the weapon barrage altogether, as she reappeared on the roof of the closest building... Naruto and Kaede weren't as lucky. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki was saved a bit by the fact that he was in midair, and the kunai aimed to his head hit him in the back instead, bouncing against his armor vest, though his hands and upper parts of his legs now had many cuts. Kaede, though, had no protection whatsoever and was turned into a human pincushion... Seeing his comrade going down pushed Naruto into in a state of fury. Completely ignoring his own wounds, he sent a mass of wind blades and several concussive projectiles towards the group that attacked with kunai. Not waiting to see the result of his attack, he turned his attention back to the Kiri ninja in front of him.

"**Fuuton: atsugai!** " The blond swordsman fired a powerful wind jutsu, and a moment later sent a couple of wind blades to either side of the attack. Ao chose this moment to send a fireball in the same direction, and the jutsu combined, creating a moving wall of fire that only five or six Mist ninja managed to evade. The mist ninja decided to fall back and regroup, instead of counterattacking.

"Let's go." Ao urged: they were in the middle of a battle. There was no time for mourning for the dead right now. Naruto and Kagerou nodded, and the now three man squad continued on their way to the rendezvous point...

* * *

That's all for now, folks. I'll try to have the next part up and ready in 14 days.  
But **leave me** a **review** anyway!


	10. Siege of Kirigakure no Sato, part II

Hello, everyone, here's the next episode of the "_**Ronin**_" story. Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**fuuinkami**, **Umbra8191**, **Highvalour**, **ebm6969**, **Silvdra-zero**, **Akira Stridder**, **god of all**, **Naginator**, **xstofer**, **miner249er**, **ChaosLord SilverLink310**, **BloodBlackStar**, **Lycan91**, **fanficreader71**, **Kreyn**, **Still Not Dead Yet**, **griffin blackwood**, **deadal**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **Jits**, **Timetravelviajutsu**, **XoreandoX**, **eclipseX**, **LbcLostKid**, **Wyrtha**, **Kel'thuzad The Summoner**, **saiyan prince1**, thanks, folks!  
**sseasshark**, there is such a thing called 'tactical retreat' - if you saw twenty of your comrades slaughtered, will you attack with the five you have left, or will you retreat for the moment and then attack with more men / ambush / etc. your opponent? But I think, I have already explained this via PM. **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, this also answers your review.  
**Tutenstein**, please, do not mistake 'strong' and 'godlike' - Naruto is strong, but he can be wounded too.  
**Toa Naruto**, I have explained what I&ID center is in this 'chapter'. Just read and find out.  
**Rixxell Stryfe**, like it is said at the very end of this ...post, the fight Naruto vs Yagura will be in the next chapter.  
**666 Kage**, where?  
**Garuda 1 Talisman**, in the third chapter, including this one into the count.  
**luffyxrobin-luffyxnami**, I think I said that it was either these short ones, but more often, or a longer one, but with much longer wait, before I post it.  
**ShadowCub**, aye!  
**dbtiger63**, no, the final reunion is planned for later.  
**roboguy45**, why should I give you spoilers? It will be revealed soon anyway.  
**ogihcI ikasoruK**, weapons... still had little time to process the idea. As for Naruto's parents, like in canon, they are - technically - dead.  
**Nero Strauss**, friendly rivalship with Choujirou? Even if both know that they are not on the same level.  
**ranma hibiki**, who do you think Mei got that idea from?

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Katon: karyuudan no jutsu** - (unknown rank) Fire style: fire dragon projectile technique - User exhales a powerful stream of fire.  
**Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - A strong gust of wind. Can be used to empower fire jutsu.  
**Youton: youkai no jutsu** - (bloodline technique) Lava style: melting specter technique - User spits out a stream of lava. It can be used to place barriers on the battlefield, or to damage the target directly.  
**Katon: zukkoku** - (B-rank) Fire style: head minching pain - A powerful fireball that explodes when it hits something that can't be burnt.  
**Suiton: suijinheki** - (unknown rank) Water style: water encampment wall - Surrounds user with a water wall.  
**Suiton: suiryuuben** - (unknown rank) Water style: water dragon whip - User creates a sphere of water that emits water whips that can impale the target.  
**Hiramekarei: kai** - (sword ability) Hiramekarei: release - Activates the ability of the Hiramekarei sword to form 'weapons' from user's chakra.  
**Fuuton: shinkuu gyoku** - (unknown rank) Wind style: vacuum sphere - Projectile of compressed air.  
**Suiton: suidan no jutsu** - (C-rank) Water style: water projectiles technique - Original technique. User shots small balls of water towards the target.  
**Suiton: suiryuudan no jutsu** - (B-rank) Water style: water dragon projectile technique - A column of water in a shape of a dragon that attacks the target.  
**Suiton: suihashu** - (unknown rank) Water style: water wave hand - User emits constant streams of water from his hands.  
**Suiton: mizurappa** - (unknown rank) Water style: violent water waves - Strong jets of water in a form of blades.  
**Suiton: gousuiwan no jutsu** - (B-rank) Water style: strong water arm technique - User reforms his arm into a more muscular and strong one with the usage of water.  
**Fuuma hijutsu: garasu shi** - (secret technique) Fuuma secret technique: glass death - Jutsu based on Fuuma's special talents with the chakra strings. The jutsu user attaches chakra strings to the target's heart (or any other internal organ), and the the other end of the strings to a hollow glass ball. When the ball is crushed, the same happens to the target's organ.  
**Futton: koumu no jutsu** - (bloodline technique) Boil style: skilled mist technique - User creates acidic fog.  
**Ni-kon hei: rengou** - (secret technique) Two soul warrior: union - Naruto allows Akasha's spirit into his body, and they control it together. This allows wider range of attacks and greatly increased situation awareness, but maintaining this 'mode' is mentally straining as one needs to control only certain muscles of his body, while completely ignoring other.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

* * *

_This chapter is yet to be beta-read.  
_

* * *

**chapter 9: Siege of Kirigakure no Sato, part II**

Yagura stood in his office, watching the events transpiring in his village through a large window, and, while his face didn't betray any emotions, on the inside he was surprised by how effectively the rebellion worked its way through the defenses of the Hidden Mist village... Under normal conditions, sieging of a fortress – and like any other hidden village, Kirigakure no Sato was a fortress – with garrison that had more men than your forces was an utter suicide, but the tactical geniuses of the rebellion commanders allowed the bloodline users not only to enter the village, but be successful in taking it under their control... With the warehouses and the Intelligence and Information Distribution (I&ID) center already taken over, his forces no longer were able to act coordinated and have unlimited supply of ninja tools...

The Yondaime Mizukage sighed. The situation seemed to be quite grim. But then again, so far the rebellion was fighting against average ninja – the elite of his forces still hadn't entered the fight. So, the chances were, the attackers would be defeated. Too bad, his forces already took a blow that could cost the Hidden Mist its position among five strongest villages... Well, at least, if his side won, there will be no bloodline monsters in the Water country anymore, and if he lost... he won't have to care about the status of the village anymore...

**~/ *** \~**

Ao's infiltration squad finally reached the rendezvous point, where the fifth and third groups were, with the generals of the rebellion themselves in the lead. Mei approached the team – since they were of her front, they were her responsibility there too.

"Report." She ordered. Ao sighed – the last attack from the Mizukage's forces had him wounded in a way that, while not particularly dangerous, was very painful for the man, and it took him a lot of self-control to continue to this point – before replying.

"Both beacons for the mortar squads were successfully placed and activated. We ran into several groups of the Mizukage's ninja, but were able to defeat them. Unfortunately, Kaede was killed during one of those skirmishes. Kagerou-san has minor wounds and is in a need of small rest, before she can take part in any serious battles. Uzumaki-san had numerous cuts and was hit by a shockwave from an explosive tag at one point, but he looks fine now. I myself need medical attention, before I can be of any use in further fights." Ao reported. The red-haired general nodded.

"I see. Ao-san, you can go the third medical squad for the help you need." The man nodded, and doddered towards where the said medical squad was. "Kagerou-san, the fifth group you were assigned will move towards the Mizukage's palace in ten minutes. I suggest you take a soldier's pill and stay in the center of the group until your reserves are replenished." The green-haired kunoichi did as she was said. "Uzumaki-san, are you up for some serious fights?" Mei asked.

"My chakra reserves are currently at about sixty percent, but should we not face any serious resistance before we reach the palace, I should be good enough." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki replied.

"Very well, in that case I want you to be on the left flange of the group, next to Choujirou." The South-West general said, before turning around and heading back to her position in the front of the group... Nodding to the woman, though she didn't see that, Naruto headed to his assigned position.

* * *

Choujirou, it appeared, was a ninja of about fifteen years old with short spiky light-gray hair. He was dressed in more or less standard ninja clothes of the Water country, with a sword on his back that looked an oversized kitchen knife. He wore glasses and quite large headphones... And since Naruto didn't remember seeing this Choujirou anywhere before, it was most likely that the boy hailed from one of the clans of the West part of the Water country, though, South was a possibility too.

"H-Hello, Genocide-san." The young swordsman greeted, when the other swordsman took his position next to him.

'_He has some confidence issues, even though he is quite strong for his age._' The Kyuubi jinchuuriki thought as he tried to estimate the power level of his fellow sword user. '_I'd say he is a high-B or low-A rank by now, and that is not counting special abilities of his weapon, if it has any._' "Just Uzumaki, please. My nickname is for scaring the enemies only." Naruto said. Choujirou nodded.

"V-Very well, U-Uzumaki-san." Shrugging, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki switched his attention to the commanders, who were giving the final orders, before the group headed towards the Mizukage's palace.

**~/ *** \~**

Getting to the central square was surprisingly easy, but once the group got there, they understood why they faced little resistance on their way: at least four hundreds of Mist ninja were on the square, ready to destroy anyone who got too close to their leader's palace.

"Walls!" Mei shouted as soon as the platoons of enemy shinobi started doing handseals for their jutsu. A moment later, thick earthen wall, followed by a water and fire ones, rose in front of the rebels, and these walls were created just in time, as not a second later an assortment of various powerful ninjutsu hit them. "Fall back to C-3." The redhead commanded. Dropping the walls, the group of the rebellion's shinobi retreated a couple of hundreds meters back, while several kunai were fired into the enemy platoons... It actually took Naruto more than a moment to understand what was done: the beacon seals were planted into the mass of Mizukage's ninja. He was proven correct, when forty seconds later he heard first mortar shells approaching enemy troops...

The result of all three mortar squads attacking single target simultaneously was, well... devastating. At least hundred of Kiri shinobi were killed by the first volley, before they even could understand what was going on. Second and third volleys together took down about as much, while the forth killed another thirty or so... And as soon as the forth – and the last one – volley hit the target, Mei commanded the rebellion's forces to attack the disoriented enemy that no longer had even numerical advantage...

After a quick, but brutal battle, in which the rebellion lost about thirty five from their ranks, the platoons of Mizukage's shinobi were eradicated. Still, there was one more problem on the way into the palace – thick iron gates with seals that would absorb chakra from ninjutsu, making them very ineffective... A quick soviet later, it was decided to try to break the gates with a ram, created from stone by doton ninjutsu users. The said ninjutsu users, forty three in number, moved to the center of the square, preparing the ram, while the rest of the group took positions around them to protect them from enemy attacks... The Kyuubi jinchuuriki watched in fascination as a giant ram – as tall as a four-story building, and at least four hundreds tons heavy – was created in under three minutes.

As soon as the ram was ready, the same ninjutsu specialists that created it, using earth manipulation, sent in forward, towards the gates... There was a very loud sound of crash, as the stone monstrosity broke the gates and continued forward, into the inner yard of Mizukage's palace, slowly falling apart as the chakra that kept the whole thing together was drained away.

With the way clear, the rebellion forces streamed into the yard, only to stop, as they faced seventy five elite jounin, including three members of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Leading the center platoon of Kiri's elite was Munashi Jinpachi with his Shibuki sword. The man wasn't very tall with an eye-patch over his left eye and had bandages covering his hair, while his split in two beard lay atop the bandages he wore around his neck.

The right group was led by Akebino Jinin with the Kabutowari sword – well, an axe and a hammer – in his hands. He had thick black mustaches and a short beard, and a big 'potato' nose. He was dressed in a baggy dark-gray clothes, with some customary bandages around his neck.

The left group had Kuriarare Kushimaru, the wielder of the Nuibari sword, as their commander. Unlike the previous two, this man was very lanky and had his face hidden behind a white and blue mask, surrounded by his long and unruly whitish hair. Kuriarare was dressed in dark-gray pants and a sleeveless shirt of the same color and, like the two other Swordsmen of the Mist, had bandages wrapped loosely around his neck.

The Kiri ninja didn't wait for the rebels to make the first move, and attacked, trying to disorganize their ranks, but instead were split into two groups themselves by Mei's two walls of lava. This breach in their mass allowed about two dozens of rebels slip past them and into the palace itself. Mei, Kagerou, Choujirou and Naruto were among them. And once they all were inside, the red-haired general once again used her lava element to seal the doors – they didn't need a chance of someone attacking them from behind, no matter how bad they felt about leaving their comrades outside to their fate against the elite of the Hidden Mist village...

* * *

Inside, Mizukage's palace was more like a labyrinth, and finding the way to the Yagura's chambers was really hard, especially with a multitude of traps and several squads of jounin getting in the way... Finally, the group reached a large chamber with stairs going up to the final level of the palace. Mei was the first one to enter the chamber, followed closely by Naruto and Choujirou. Kagerou and two jounin of the rebellion – Komaru Kasato and Takara Idoyuri – got in too, but then the door sealed itself, leaving the rest of the group outside of the chamber.

"Welcome to your final destination." A disembodied voice said, as the six ninja tried to find their opponent in the room. Finally, a jar of water that stood behind some flower vases released its contents, that, in turn, became a man. This man just happened to be the current leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, the infamous Houzuki Mangetsu. He was of average height and had light-gray, almost white, hair. He wore light-gray pants with some bandages as a replacement for a belt and a dark-gray sleeveless shirt. Like other Swordsmen of the Mist he had bandages around his neck too. Attached to waist there was a bottle of water, and on his back there was a strange sword with two handles and its very wide, shaped like a fish, blade covered by more bandages – the Hiramekarei.

"Oh, damn!.." Takara moaned. "Fighting him will take forever."

"Shut up." Komaru hissed at his teammate. "We shall distract him, while Mei-sotaicho and Uzumaki-san will go forward – they are the strongest among us." Takara and Choujirou nodded, while Kagerou didn't show her emotions about this. Mei too nodded, though she once again felt bad about the need to 'sacrifice' her fellow rebels to complete the task.

"Very well, let's do this." The red-haired kunoichi said.

"**Katon: karyuudan no jutsu!**" Takara exhaled a powerful stream of fire towards the leader of the Seven Swordsmen. Moment later Naruto used **fuuton: daitoppa** to further increase the power of the flames, thus forcing Mangetsu to step aside, lest he was burnt to a crisp. "Now, taicho!"

"**Youton: youkai no jutsu!**" Mei spit out a mass of lava, creating a wall between the Kiri swordsman and her and Naruto's way to the stairs. Not wasting even a moment of their precious time, the duo ran forward, hoping that they will be able reach the top of the stairs and exit the chamber, before Mangetsu could stop them.

"**Katon: zukokku!**" another, even more powerful than the previous one, fire jutsu was sent towards leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist to keep him occupied. Alas, the man wasn't chosen for the post for nothing...

"**Suiton: suijinheki!**" The white-haired Kiri ninja created a water wall around himself, and the only thing the fire did, was creating a lot of vapor. "**Suiton: suiryuuben!**" The water wall shifted into a ball of water in front of Mangetsu, before multiple 'spears' shot out of it, trying to pierce the four rebellion ninja he could see. Not caring much about the results of his attack – his main task was not to let rebels go past this chamber – he drew his sword. "**Hiramekarei: kai!**" Bandages that previously covered the blade were blown away, as a giant blade of pure chakra grew out of the sword's physical body. Mangetsu swung the sword at the waist level, easily cutting the lava wall... Naruto managed to duck under the blade of chakra, though it did cut the hood of his cloak, while Mei jumped over the said blade.

"**Fuuton: shinkuu gyoku!**" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki fired a ball of compressed wind into what was left from the lava wall, making it explode into a rain of shrapnel towards Mangetsu, forcing him to create a water wall to protect himself. And since he couldn't attack while hiding behind the wall, the rest of the rebels started firing their jutsu at the Kiri swordsman, letting Mei and Naruto successfully reach the bottom of the stairs... Seeing that he was failing his mission, Mangetsu let out a roar and had the water wall surrounding him explode outwards with such power that were it not for Kagerou's earthen wall, the four rebels would having been knocked into the wall of the chamber... Turning around, he saw several 'pair' of Naruto and Mei running up the stairs.

"**Suiton: suidan no jutsu!**" Multiple water projectiles shot right out of his hands, but as soon as they hit their intended targets, these target exploded into poofs of white smoke, revealing themselves to be shadow clones. "**Suiton: suryuudan no jutsu!**" The Kiri swordsman sent a water dragon to keep the four rebel that were still on the floor on defensive, before switching to another technique moment later: "**Suiton: suihashu!**" Torrents of water exploded from his arms, trying to wash everything from the stairs back onto the floor. But Naruto and Mei jumped over these water torrents and, before Mangetsu could attack them again, reached the top of the stairs.

"**Youton: youkai no jutsu!**" Not wasting even a moment, the red-haired kunoichi, created a lava wall around the exit from the chamber, preventing anyone from following them... Seeing that he no longer could do anything to stop those two, the leader of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist concentrated on the four rebels that remained in the chamber.

"**Suiton: mizurappa!**" Sending several water blades towards his four opponents, Mangetsu summoned five water clones and charged towards the rebels, the Hiramekarei in readiness in his hands. As soon as he was close enough, he created something akin a sledgehammer of chakra around his sword, and hit Kagerou with it, sending the green-haired kunoichi into the wall, where she lost conscious upon impact.

"**Katon: karyuudan!**" Mangetsu was forced to evade a wave of fire sent towards him, but that wasn't very hard for him. His clones, though, were a different story, and four out of five were destroyed... Giving his last clone a mental command to go fight the rebel's sword user, the Kiri swordsman attacked the other two, quickly wrapping his turned into water body around the fire user Takara, and starting to drain the water from him. The man, though, managed to activate a mass of explosive tag that were hidden on his body, before he was killed by dehydration... The explosion was very powerful and, were Mangetsu not in his water form, he would have been killed for sure... But he was just blown apart instead – nothing too serious, though, it would take him several seconds to reconstruct his body. With Choujirou still occupied by his clone and Komaru not having any jutsu that could harm him in this state, the Kiri swordsman wasn't afraid of being 'defenseless' while he reassembled his body...

"**Suiton: mizurappa!**" The leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist sent a water blade towards the unoccupied rebel. Komaru used a wall of stone to deflect the technique, but he wasn't prepared for Mangetsu to attack him with Hiramekarei changed into an axe moment later, and this cost him his life...

"Die!" Choujirou yelled – he had finally defeated the water clone he was fighting previously – as he swung his sword at his opponent, almost catching the Kiri swordsman by surprise – Mangetsu once again changed his body into water, and the blade passed through him without wounding him. Switching Hiramekarei into the form of a normal sword, the leader of Seven Swordsmen of the Mist tried to behead Choujirou, but the boy twisted his own sword and blocked the attack... And the glasses-wearing boy was damn strong, Mangetsu had to admit – he couldn't overpower him as he was...

"**Suiton: gousuiwan no jutsu!**" The water formed additional muscles, allowing him to throw Choujirou into the wall. Having his Hiramekarei change into an axe again, the Kiri swordsman attacked his opponent, only to have his attack blocked again... Trying to overpower the younger boy, Mangetsu didn't notice Kagerou rejoining the fight, until the green-haired kunoichi palmed him on his back. Without turning around, the leader of Seven Swordsmen of the Mist kicked the annoying girl on her stomach, sending her flying backwards... Unfortunately it wasn't enough to break her concentration and the chakra strings that went from her left hand – she held the right one over her broken ribs – and into his chest. Kagerou then took a hollow glass ball from within her pouch and attached chakra strings to it.

"**Fuuma hijutsu: garasu shi!**" She whispered as she crushed the ball... Mangetsu, though, not wanting to find out what this technique could do, had his internal organs changed into water, thus negating any damage that could be done to them. But this partial shifting of his body between its states had him drop his concentration on Choujirou, and the boy managed to jostle the Hiramekarei away and counterattack, 'beheading' the Kiri swordsman... Only for him to become water and start reassembling himself... "**Katon: karyuudan!**" The green-haired kunoichi, ignoring the pain it caused her, exhaled a stream of white-hot fire, that evaporated normal water and did damage Mangetsu's body, turning it into something like a whitish paste, while the Hiramekarei sword returned to its normal solid state... As Kagerou continued the attack, the body of the Kiri swordsman was taking more and more damage, till he stopped moving at all and started getting charred... Suddenly, the green-haired kunoichi stopped the jutsu and coughed some blood.

"Are you alright, Kagerou-san?" Choujirou asked as he appeared by her side. "You shouldn't strain yourself this much." The girl just shook her head.

"I'm fine." She whispered in a barely audible voice, before losing her conscious. The rebellion's swordsman sighed and picked Mangetsu's sword up.

"**Hiramekarei: kai!**" A hammer made of chakra burst into the existence, and the glasses-wearing boy brought it down onto the 'head' of the leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. There was a sickening sound, like an over-ripe fruit being crushed, and Mangetsu's head was destroyed. The man was now dead... Being too tired to do much now, Choujirou sat Kagerou against the wall, before taking place next to her, and closing his eyes too...

**~/ *** \~**

Mei, who had split with Naruto a minute ago, entered the chamber that she though was the Mizukage's office. But it was empty. Completely empty... Other than for the four Mist ANBU that were hiding there in the shadows.

"**Futton: koumu no jutsu!**" She breathed out an acidic mist, while dodging a wind blade that was send to decapitate her. Getting closer to the window, so that she could keep an eye on all of the ANBU at once, she flashed through handseals. "Let's play boys. **Youton: youkai no jutsu!**" She spat a torrent of lava towards the pair of ANBU to her right, killing one and dealing a lot of damage to another, before they could do anything to protect themselves... "Yeah, let's play."

**~/ *** \~**

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki reached a large door at the end of the corridor he was following. He stopped there and drew some yoki from the nine-tailed demon to amplify his senses... It appeared that he chose the right pass, as behind the door there was only one man. A man with Sanbi sealed in his gut. Yagura himself was behind this door... Redirecting the yoki flow towards his muscles, Naruto sent a message to Akasha that he would need her help now. Get a positive reply from the vampires, he ran though handseals.

"**Nikon hei: rengou!**" After getting ready to evade whatever attack the Sanbi jinchuuriki would launch at him, Naruto kicked the door open, only to find out that Yagura was sitting behind his table drinking some tea... Seeing that someone from the rebellion had reached his office, the Yondaime Mizukage stood up and, walking into the open space in front of his table, took his zanbatou into his hands.

"The Genocide..." He acknowledged his opponent in almost bored tone.

"Why, hello there, three-tailed bastard." Naruto replied, while pointing his sword at Yagura.

* * *

Choujirou's sword (unnamed) - A quite large single-edged sword that looks a bit like an overly large knife. It has a blade of about 50 inches long and 5 inches wide. (look up Asuna's "Ensis Exorcizans" from "_**Mahou Sensei Negima**_" if you have troubles imagining what Choujirou's sword looks like). For the most part it is like any other sword, but it has the ability to block any weapon, be it solid, chakra or specter. Some say that this sword can block even the Totsuka no Tsurugi (Storm God Susanoo's sword), but this was never tested as no one knows where the Totsuka no Tsurugi is.

* * *

That's all, folks!  
Leave me a **review**.

**next time**: Naruto vs Yagura


	11. Siege of Kirigakure no Sato, part III

Hello, everyone, here's the next episode of the "_**Ronin**_" story. Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**miner249er**, **griffin blackwood**, **Umbra8191**, **Naginator**, **raw666**, **nobother**, **eclipseX**, **sh8ad8ow**, **fanficreader71**, **macabre-wolf**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **vsizzel**, **ChaosLord SilverLink310**, **Hippie Painter**, **xstofer**, **Highvalour**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **Timetravelviajutsu**, **Blackholelord**, **darkchain zangetsu**, **Knives91**, **LbcLostKid**, **NANLIT**, thanks, folks!  
**Floating On An Akatsuki Cloud**, ... thank you?  
**Rixxell Stryfe**, oh, well, here's your answer, in this chapter.  
**Writer of the Void**, **Loryk Southern Guardian**, I explained you the situation with Choujirou's sword via PM.  
**Wyrtha**, yeah, Mist will be in not a good shape for years, thanks to the civilian war, but they will live and prosper in the end.  
**Nero Strauss**, lock down? Maybe I'll do just that. For the time of village's recovery.  
**BowTechsniper**, **Still Not Dead Yet**, here's the final 'boss'. Naruto vs Yagura is in this chapter.  
**luffyxrobin-luffyxnami**, part of harem - maybe. sometimes - sure... I still can't decide on the permanence of her 'membership' in the 'harem'.  
**ogihcI ikasoruK**, thanks? And thank you for congratulation on my BD. You were 1 of the two 2 from this site. The other one is my beta **NARUHAREM FOREVA**.

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Suiton: teppoudama** - (C-rank) Water style: gunshot - User spits a powerful ball of water towards the target.  
**Mikadzuki no mai** - (A-rank) Dance of the crescent Moon - User attacks the target through an intricate sword dance, while his shadow clones distract the opponent.  
**Suiton: suiryuudan no jutsu** - (B-rank) Water style: water dragon projectile technique - A column of water in a shape of a dragon that attacks the target.  
**Fuuton: shinkuu gyoku** - (unknown rank) Wind style: vacuum sphere - Projectile of compressed air.  
**Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - A strong gust of wind. Can be used to empower fire jutsu.  
**Fuuton: shou** - (C-rank) Wind style: palm - Original jutsu that sends rather weak ball of compressed air towards the target.  
**Fuuton: atsugai** - (B-rank) Wind style: pressure damage - This jutsu creates devasting wind blast.  
**Rariatto** - (unknown rank) Lariat (Lightning plow heated blade) - taijutsu attack that is based on wrestling move. Attack causes massive damage to the target's chest or stomach.  
**Imari** - (demonic technique) Menacing ball - A ball of yoki that turns into an energy beam that disintegrates everything on its way.  
**Unnamed yoki blade blasts** - (demonic technique) - Blasts of yoki that can deliver strong cutting attack to the target.  
**Akasha's unnamed sealing technique** - (special technique) - Western sealing method that allows suppression on the demonic energies. Akasha can use it when is in complete control over Naruto's body.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

* * *

_This chapter is yet to be beta-read.  
_

* * *

**chapter 9: Siege of Kirigakure no Sato, part III**

Eighteen rebels, some of them wounded from facing the guards and traps that were here and there in the palace, finally managed to break the door that had separated them from their leaders. The group quickly entered the chamber, ready to fight any opponent, but were faced with none. The chamber had signs of fierce battle having happened there just minutes ago, but the only enemy in the room – the leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Houzuki Mangetsu – was dead. As were two of rebellion officers... Kagerou and Choujirou, both of whom were seated against the wall of the chamber, were alive, but clearly were in no shape to continue fighting.

"Ishida, how are they?" Kimaru Bouroku, the man who took the role of the leader of the group, said to the only ninja among the eighteen who knew at least the basics of medical techniques. Ishida nodded and approached the two downed shinobi and ran simple diagnostic techniques on them.

"Choujirou-dono is mostly fine, it just physical and chakra exhaustion." The 'medic' said. "Kagerou-dono, on the other hand has suffered several broken ribs and some of her inner organs are bruised and there is a small internal bleeding. She also has a head trauma and minor chakra exhaustion." Ishida reported. "I'm afraid, that without medical help she won't pull through."

"Then do what you can, till the medical squad arrives here. Fuuma knew what they sent their clansmen into, but it would be better for us if their losses are minimal." Kimaru said. Ishida only nodded – he already knew what he had to do – and started using his most powerful medical jutsu to make sure Kagerou would live.

**~/ *** \~**

Back to the Mizukage's office, two jinchuuriki were standing opposite to each other with their swords drawn and ready for the inevitable fight, but both also knew that the first one to make the move would be at the disadvantage... Naruto was the first one to lose his patience as ha launched a small but very fast ball of compressed wind at the Mizukage. Yagura, though, was not only a 'perfect' jinchuuriki, but also a very skilled ninja even without his beast, so dodging this attack wasn't hard for him.

"I see... You are a wind user." The Fourth Mizukage observed still in his bored tone. "Don't worry, though, your affinity won't save you. **Suiton: teppoudama!**" The Kiri jinchuuriki sent a very powerful ball of water at his opponent, but the Genocide evaded it, while shifting his sword to look upwards instead of being pointed at Yagura.

"As if relying on just one thing will let someone survive in the ninja world." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki replied, while summoning two shadow clones without using handseals. '_**Mikadzuki no Mai!**_' Sure, Naruto hated Konoha, but that didn't mean he was above using a powerful jutsu originating from that village... So the red-eyed blond and two of his clones simultaneously charged at the Mizukage, performing quite and intricate dance with their blades, that were now surrounded by the wind chakra.

"Is that all you have?" Yagura asked as he had evaded the clones completely and blocked real Naruto's sword with his zanbatou, that somehow didn't even get a scratch from all this. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki just smirked as he suddenly jumped upwards. A moment later two of his clones made a slashing movements, aimed to cut the Mizukage in two. The clones actually succeeded in doing so... Only for Yagura to turn into water and explode, destroying Naruto's both doppelgangers and almost sending the original into the wall.

"Water clone." The red-eyed blond observed, as he saw his opponent – hopefully the real one – emerge from the shadows of the corner of the chamber. "I should have expected as much. Though I didn't know there was an exploding variation..."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about this world, monster." Yagura said, still in his bored tone, while he did a sequence of single-handed handseals. "**Suiton: suiryuudan no jutsu!**" Puddles of water that were created by the clone – both from the water jutsu it used, and from its own demise – turned into water dragons that tried to rip the Kyuubi jinchuuriki into pieces...

"Monster?" Naruto asked, while destroying one dragon with a low-level wind blade from his sword and blowing the other with a **fuuton: shinkuu gyoku** that he had channeled though his free hand. "That's rich, coming from the man who had started the war against the men and women of his own country." Yagura answered nothing, attacking the younger blond with another water dragon instead. The red-eyed swordsman moved out of the jutsu's way and, covering Akasha with wind chakra, tried to slice the Mizukage into two. Once again, Yagura managed to block Naruto's sword with his zanbatou without the massive blade sustaining any damage at all.

"Can't you see that fighting me is futile? Accept your fate and die, monster." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki looked into the purplish-pink eyes of the Yondaime Mizukage.

"No, today will be the day when you will no longer soil the Earth with your deeds and your self." Doing a quick handseals with his free hand, Naruto thrust it forward, towards Yagura's stomach. "**Fuuton: shou!**" The wind technique threw the Sanbi jinchuuriki across his office, but that was pretty much all that it could do to him. The Mizukage recovered quickly and, while still airborne, send a powerful water bullet back at his opponent... This time Naruto wasn't fast enough to dodge the technique completely, and it hit him on the side of his stomach and threw him backwards, tearing a part of his cloak. Thankfully, it couldn't damage the armor vest the red-eyed blond was wearing, thus leaving him unharmed... As the Kyuubi jinchuuriki tried to regain his footing, Yagura was already attacking him with that zanbatou of his.

"Die, dirty-blooded monster." The Mizukage said, still barely showing any emotion in his voice, as he tried to cleave the other blond in two vertically. On the instinct, Naruto raised Akasha to block his enemy's blade, but to his surprise, the blood-red sword broke into two under Yagura's powerful attack. Even knowing that things had changed from bad to worse, the red-eyed blond was determined to fight for as long as he was alive – and he wasn't planning on dying any time soon – so he threw himself backwards, hoping not to be cut by Mizukage's zanbatou as well. And he more or less succeeded in this as the giant cleaver hit only his armor, leaving a deep scratch mark on it, but not penetrating it.

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" Yagura had no chance of evading such a jutsu at point blank range, and thus was sent crashing into the ceiling of his office. Now that he got a moment to catch his breath, Naruto finally completely realized what happened to his sword. '_Are you there, Akasha-shishou? Are you OK?_'

'_**I should be fine.**_' The vampiress replied. '_**I'm within you for as long as that jutsu is active, not within the sword.**_' Her master breathed out in relief. '_**Though I would like you to make that bastard pay for what he did to ...my sword. And you will need to get me a new sword soon – I can't stay within you forever.**_' Naruto nodded and got ready to continue fighting. Just in time to see his opponent standing up... Pumping more chakra into what was left from his sword, the red-eyed blond completed it to its original shape creating pseudo-matter from the energy he was pushing into it.

"**Fuuton: atsugai!**" Using his chakra for several different purposes simultaneously was draining, thus the jutsu was less powerful that it would normally be, but it still could be counted as a B-ranked one... And as Yagura was still recovering from Naruto's previous attack, he didn't have an easy way of avoiding the incoming technique, unless...

**~/ *** \~**

Mei just finished dealing with the Kiri ANBU she had run into. Even if she had taken down the first two within the first several seconds of the fight, doing the save with the other two proved to be not an easy task, even with the help of the acidic mist... Still, she won and was ready to go help Uzumaki, when a wave of powerful killing intent passed through her being. It took her a couple of moments to realize what exactly was the source of this monstrous KI.

Yagura was now using his bijuu's powers, and it was a common knowledge that fighting jinchuuriki, who even without his beast was a Kage-level ninja, one on one was a suicide. Hoping beyond hope that Uzumaki would last long enough for her to get there and help him, Mei raced through the corridors of the palace towards where the Sanbi jinchuuriki was...

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto did a step backwards as the blast of killing intent from Yagura washed over him... As the aftereffects of his last technique disappeared, the red-eyed blond could see that the Fourth Mizukage was now surrounded by a greenish-brown demonic cloak with three tails that somewhat resembled a turtle in it's shape. Yagura's clothes on his stomach were torn apart, showing a rapidly healing wound. Naruto managed to hit him after all...

"**I will destroy you!**" The Sanbi jinchuuriki said in a low demonic voice, before his three 'tails' shifted to pointing at the red-eyed blond and balls of chakra appeared in front of them. Moment later three powerful streams of water were racing towards Naruto. The swordsman of the rebellion evaded all three with relative ease, only to be forces to dodge a swing of Yagura's zanbatou – the blade was now held in the yoki-formed hand of the demonic cloak, which could extend at Mizukage's will... As he had, barely, escaped being cut in two by his opponent's cleaver, the red-eyed blond was sent flying into the wall behind him by a powerful punch from Yagura's cloak's other hand. "**Die!**" The Sanbi jinchuuriki roared as he got ready to unleash another one of his water blasts, and Naruto who was yet to even stand up had no way of dodging this attack.

'_**Naruto-kun, you need to use the powers of the Kyuubi.**_' Akasha said. '_**I made sure that the rude beast would be willing to share some of its power.**_' Were his situation not so bad, Naruto would have at least chuckled at this.

'_I know. Let's do this._' Just as a powerful stream of water was about to hit the red-eyed blond, crimson yoki exploded outwards his body in what could only be described as a pyre, protecting him from the incoming attack and making sure that the damage he had sustained so far was healed in a matter of seconds. "**If you want to play a demon...**" Naruto said as he stood up. "**...Make sure that there isn't someone who can too out there.**" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki was sure that even if wasn't in the state of 'tailed' yoki cloak, with his natural speed and strength, he will be able to match Yagura as he was now. And not being the one to give his shocked opponent time to recover, Naruto attacked the Sanbi jinchuuriki with a powerful punch to his guts. "**Rariatto!**" The strike was so powerful that it sent Yagura through the wall and out of the building. At the same time he now had a large bleeding wound on his abdomen that Sanbi was trying to heal...

**~/ *** \~**

Mei entered Mizukage's office just in time to see Naruto, surrounded by a pyre of crimson yoki, disappear through the large hole in the wall that Yagura 'created' a moment before that... The red-haired kunoichi froze on spot: she knew that something was different about Uzumaki with how strong he was, but never could she imagine that he actually was a demon container...

Battle between Kage-level shinobi was one thing, and she actually could be help there, being such ninja herself, but the battle between jinchuuriki was something on the entirely different level. She would only a hindrance for Uzumaki now and nothing more than a bug to crush for Yagura. It was in her best interest to stay the hell away from where the two demonic containers fought.

Still, as the leader of the rebellion, she will have to punish him for withholding such important information from her... But as the image of the feral red-eyed blond swordsman in a ripped cloak was still fresh in her mind, the idea of her punishment for Uzumaki quickly descended into the BDSM area, thanks to all those hormones she was suppressing for years...

Shaking her head to clear it from unneeded images, Mei approached the window of Mizukage's office and, leaning slightly against the cool glass, started observing the battle that raged in front of the palace...

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto went for the guillotine drop, hoping to finish the fight before Yagura transformed into the Sanbi, and, thanks to the ten stores he had to fall down before he would reach his target, the attack was really deadly... The Yondaime Mizukage, who was still recovering from the lariat, saw this too and tried to block the other jinchuuriki's drop with his zanbatou. The cleaver, though, wasn't strong enough, and broke. At least it had absorbed a good deal of the power behind Naruto's attack and actually redirected it a little, thus Yagura was now having only a part of his right side destroyed, instead of being broken in two...

"**I will not lose to a bloodline monster like you.**" The Sanbi jinchuuriki hissed, though with him lying on the ground, broken from the onslaught from his opponent, it sure didn't sound as intimidating as it otherwise would. Those words were followed by an explosion of yoki that threw Naruto across the yard and towards the palace's wall... Thanks to the Kyuubi's yoki flowing through his body, the red-eyed blond recovered quickly and landed onto the wall, instead of crashing through it.

'_Shishou, can you make sure that the Kyuubi doesn't take over me? I need to enter my tailed state if I ever wish to defeat that thing._' The red-eyed blond thought as he watched Yagura transform into the big demonic turtle that was the Sanbi.

'_**Yeah, no problems there, Naruto-kun.**_' The vampiress replied, while sending him a mental nod too, and Naruto let more of Kyuubi's power to flow into his system, which resulted in the pyre of yoki around him morphing into a fox-shaped demonic cloak with two tails

'_Hey, nine-tails, how about you tell me the most powerful attack I can do in this form?_' Naruto asked.

'_**And why should I help you any more than I do now, flesh bag?**_' The Kyuubi boomed from behind the seal that kept it at bay. The red-eyed blond mentally shrugged.

'_Maybe because it will make sure that you are the strongest tailed demon out there? You know, defeating Sanbi at its full power with just a mere fraction of you own strength and all._' This made the overgrown fox to think for a moment.

'_**Very well, I will help you this one time, hairless monkey.**_' It boomed. '_**Be ready to witness my power!**_' In reality, the tails of Naruto's demonic cloak moved turning up above blond's head, while some of the yoki detached itself from the cloak and formed a rather sizable ball of energy between the tails. Suddenly the ball imploded, becoming not any bigger that a chestnut and changing its color to dark-red. A moment later the yoki that was concentrated in this ball burst outwards in a crimson beam of energy that raced towards the towering form of Sanbi, burning a trench in the ground as it moved... Yagura in the form of the Sanbi sent a column of water to stop the incoming attack, but that wasn't enough, and Naruto's **imari** slammed into the ugly head of the three-tailed beast. The colossal turtle did a step backwards, before rising onto its back legs, as it prepared to unleash some powerful attack... Not wanting to see what exactly the Sanbi could do, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki attacked first.

"**Eat this!**" The red-eyed blond slammed his yoki-covered arms onto the ground, sending two powerful bursts of demonic energy towards Yagura's Sanbi's rear legs. The bursts took form of the energy blades, similar to what water cutter technique looked like, and a second later collided with the columns that were Sanbi's legs, actually leaving cuts on them... The beast let out a deafening roar and collapsed onto the ground with enough power to cause a small earthquake.

'_**Master, let me take control over your body.**_' Akasha said to Naruto through their mental connection. '_**We need to end this fight now: your opponent has merged his body with the demonic one, while you are only surrounded by yoki. In other words, your body takes some damage while his doesn't. Plus you can only keep this up for as long as you have chakra to keep the leak in your seal opened, and your chakra levels are already low.**_' Now that she had told it, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki could feel that, indeed, he was already close to chakra exhaustion... But the vampiress wasn't finished. '_**Back when I was alive, I was a mistress in the sealing arts, even though they were different from those used nowadays, and I'm pretty sure that I will be able to revert your opponent back to his human form. But for that I need it be still and not fighting back, like he is now.**_'

'_Do it!_' Naruto sent her, while giving her a permission to do what she needed in order to end this fight... The feeling of being a passenger in his own body, that the red-eyed blond experienced a moment later was possibly the strangest thing he had felt in his life, especially as he heard Akasha chanting something in a language he could not understand... They appeared in front of the Sanbi, and Akasha, using Naruto's chakra, formed a sealing circle in front of blond's right hand... Yagura could see that his opponent was about to do something ...interesting, and tried to stop him, but Akasha in Naruto's body was faster and activated the sealing circle before the Fourth Mizukage could even charge his attack up.

'_**Looks like it worked.**_' The vampiress observed as bluish lines spread out of the sealing circle and criss crossed Sanbi's body, before forcing it to shrink and reshape back into Yagura's human form... By this time Naruto was once again in control of his own body, and so he attacked the other jinchuuriki with a vicious punch, sending him across the yard and into the wall that surrounded the palace...

"**Die!**" Naruto roared as he extended the arm of his demonic cloak with what was left from his sword in it to cut Yagura's head off... Unfortunately, the red-eyed blond forgot that he shouldn't kill the Mizukage as it would result in Sanbi being released from its seal to do as it pleased. So as soon as blade decapitated the Sanbi jinchuuriki, the three-tailed beast once again appeared on the battlefield in its full glory... And with his chakra reserves completely drained, Naruto could no longer keep the demonic cloak around himself, so he let it go, lest it did some permanent or even fatal damage to his body. Not that he had energy to even run away from the beast in front of him anyway...

Suddenly four beams of bluish light hit the giant turtle from four sides. With his mind in fog from his exhaustion, it took the Kyuubi jinchuuriki some time to recall that there was a sealing team among the ninjas of the fifth group – the group that attacked the palace – and the beams of light were them using a four point sealing technique to imprison the Sanbi into the specially prepared sealing pot they had... The beams of light got shorter as four ninja of the rebellion approached the bound beast, while the fifth one placed the sealing pot underneath the three-tailed demon. Now, the five men through their shared effort forced the Sanbi into its new prison...

As soon as the sealing was completed and the Sanbi was of no danger to the rebellion any more, Naruto finally allowed the darkness to overcome him, as he collapsed on the ground unconscious.

* * *

That's all, folks!  
Leave me a **review**.


	12. Meeting them again

Hello, everyone, here's the next episode of the "_**Ronin**_" story. Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**Toa Naruto**, only Shiki Fuuin 'kills' the demon sealed with it. Other seals will release bijuu upon container's death. And, yes. No citric action, though.  
**fanficreader71**, **fuuinkami**, **gohon ssj4**, **Ex10**, **Sweet Heavens**, **griffin blackwood**, **Umbra8191**, **eclipseX**, **kreep13**, **EditorFin**, **EternalKnight219**, **turbomagnus**, **nobother**, **naruchan84**, **ebm6969**, **Kel'thuzad The Summoner**, **vsizzel**, **god of all**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **macabre-wolf**, **ChaosLord SilverLink310**, **Akira Stridder**, **King of the Fallen**, **BowTechsniper**, **Knives91**, **Dark spirits**, **ogihcI ikasoruK**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **Getsuga Tensou**, **jafr86**, **Ngbeken Lovette**, **spazz876**, **Slytherin's Pimp**, thank you for your reviews, folks!  
**Nero Strauss**, yes, they will. For now, at least.  
**Naginator**, **NANLIT**, Naruto and Mei will recognize each other, but in the beginning of this chapter they are yet to know who they really are.  
**FerPeinRikudou**, there is one other 'redhead' with this fetish. Three guesses, who?  
**cra0007**, not sure, whether I will include Akatsuki arc or not (maybe as a sequel), but I had that man too.  
**Fayneir**, punishment there will be. In bedroom. =) Next chapter. Maybe.  
**Highvalour**, I think, I replied you via PM. If not, Naruto looks older than he is, and the whole thing takes place about a couple of month before canon began.  
**Wyrtha**, Akasha is alive. Only her sword was destroyed.  
**roboguy45**, this chapter and the next one will answer that question.  
**Rixxell Stryfe**, **XoreandoX**, he'll give Akasha something even better than those fancy blades. ^_^  
**deadal**, sorry?  
**gogt12**, I have said this before: Naruto will never come closer than 20 miles to Konoha.  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, heh.  
**WolfLeader4000**, Kagerou is a green-haired girl (Fuuma clan arc, I season of anime. If you need her visual, look up Kagerou ninpo: Utakata jutsu on leafninja com). That plant-like freak from Akatsuki is Zetsu.  
**The real leghendary supersayji**, too many letters... =)  
**Owlbear**, lol!  
**feffecrazy**, not the biggest one out there. Believe me - I'm (almost) a lieutenant in artillery. The pairing of Naruto/Kagerou/Mei won't change, but Mei won't be the one, who get the majority of 'Naruto-time) =)

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

*** Important!** As of tomorrow (Tuesday, 14th June) I'm off to the army camp. I'll be there till July, 18th, without internet or even a PC. So, there will be no updates to my stories during this time. Don't worry, though, as once I'm back, I'll give you something to read again. Also, I'm really sorry that "_**Ronin**_" is the only Naruto story I'm updating, before leaving - I just didn't have enough time to write something for other stories ("_**The Demon and The Ghost**_" included - this story is NOT dead. I already figured out how to continue it. expect the update before the end of July)...

* * *

_This chapter is yet to be beta-read. It's also quite small, and kind of a filler one. Deal with it.  
_

* * *

**chapter 10: Meeting them again**

Naruto found himself in the place that was his mindscape. This time, though, there was one presence that normally wouldn't be found there. This presence was no one other that Akasha herself, who was leaning against the massive bars of the cage representing the seal that kept the Kyuubi at bay. But as soon as she sensed her wielder enter his mindscape, she stood up, before disappearing in blur. Instinctively knowing where the 'attack' would be coming from, Naruto tried to turn around. He was too slow as by the time his 'body' started moving, the vampiress was already behind him, with her arm wrapped tightly around him on the chest level, making him unable to move.

"**Hello, master.**" Akasha whispered into his ear hotly, making him blush profusely, before nuzzling into the crook of his neck and biting him gently there. Then she hugged the young jinchuuriki tighter for a moment, before releasing him from her 'clutches'. Turning around, Naruto finally saw Akasha 'live'. The vampiress wasn't very tall, just about five feet eight, had waist-long dark pink hair that she wore as a ponytail, green eyes, and rather pale perfect skin. And she looked really young, like she was in human early twenties or even late teen. She was wearing black corset and leather shorts of style that matched corset's, stockings and shoes that would be equally comfortable on the battlefield and in the ballroom... Naruto's eyes traveled up to Akasha's chest: even through the corset her bust looked quite sizable. Without it, her bosom would easily be D-cups... Akasha caught her wielder staring at her, and made a fake cough.

"A-ah!" Naruto made a startled yelp and quickly looked down, while his face turned red. The vampiress giggled.

"**So my master does find me attractive, hmm.**" Then she made a seemingly random movement with her hand, and two armchairs materialized. "**As much as I, like any other woman, love discussing my beauty, we do have more important things to talk about, Naruto-kun.**" Akasha said as sat into one of the armchairs, while telling her wielder with gestures to take the other.

"Like the sword you will inhabit?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki asked as he took the seat.

"**Indeed. With my previous one being destroyed, I need a new one.**" The vampiress replied. "**And you better find me a good one, Naruto-kun, or...**"

"Your sword... It can be reforged, unless the parts were lost completely during the battle." Naruto replied, after thinking for a couple of seconds. The redhead in front of him nodded in agreement.

"**That would be perfect.**"

"If not, Kiri has one of the best blacksmiths in Elemental Nations. I'm sure we'll be able to find something worthy of you." This time Akasha just nodded in response...

**~/ *** \~**

Apparently, the last battle took a lot more of him than he himself had anticipated. That was the conclusion Naruto came to, when he learned that he was unconscious for almost four days. Still, as he suffered mostly from chakra exhaustion, the medics didn't see any point it keeping him at hospital any longer than absolutely necessary: there were lots of wounded out there, too many for them to divert their attentions to cases like Naruto's.

During the time the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was unconscious, the rebellion secured their control over the Kirigakure no Sato and already started rebuilding the village – they needed the defenses up and ready for anything as soon as possible, to prevent other villages wiping them from the face of Elemental Nations... And, since the leaders of the rebellion were now discussing the ways to bring Kiri back to its glory, as well as other political questions, like who will be the new Mizukage, somewhere, Naruto decided that he would try to reforge Akasha's sword – the pieces of the broken sword were by his bed, when he woke up.

Finding the blacksmiths where he could try his hand at reforging the sword without being disturbed wasn't easy, as the village needed a lot of new weapons made, but in the end, Naruto found one that he could rent for some time. His status of a war hero helped there a lot too...

* * *

It took the blond swordsman almost entire week to successfully reforge the sword. With some help from Akasha, of course. Well, a lot of help from the vampiress, who, despite coming from an aristocratic, almost royal, family, knew a lot of things about metals and blacksmith... The new sword was still crimson in color, but was longer, fifty four inches long blade instead of the 'old' forty two, and narrower, only two and a half inches instead of four, as well as looking more like a normal longsword than a saw. It still had a cross-shaped hole near the tip of the blade, and several protrusions, but they were much smaller now, and were only near the handle. Another important change about the sword was that now it had a runic array – something like the sealing arrays, but in different language – running from the handle and almost till the cross-shaped hole in blade. The purpose of this array was to make the blade much harder to destroy, as well as to improve its other important properties.

When Naruto was done with repairing Akasha's 'home', he decided that it was time to pay a visit to the village where his adopted family lived (and then, died) – not that he had any better things to do, as Kiri was still under reconstruction, Kagerou was still in hospital, and would remain there for some time, and the leaders of the rebellion were still in the process of determining, who will lead the new Hidden Mist.

Since he wasn't in a great hurry, the trip to the destroyed village in the south-west of the Water country, was nine days long. And most of it was under heavy rain, not that Naruto minded much – having spent good portion of his early life on roads, he didn't care about weather a lot. Still, the rains made the ground muddy, and repairing the memorial he himself had constructed, should there be any need for that, would be harder.

Unfortunately, the monument was in a bad state, almost destroyed, actually. But then again, there was barely any surprise there, since it was in the middle of Yagura's territory at that time. Now, that the rebellion had won the war, the memorial to those, who had died from bloodline purges, would stand strong, should be brought back to its pristine condition. So, ignoring the weather that had worsened further, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki started repairing the monument...

* * *

The works took four days of time, since he had to completely redo the drenage under the monument, but in the end, the Gothic cross was standing as good as new. Since it was already quite late in the morning, when Naruto finished working, he, despite not really needing any rest, still decided to head back to Kiri in the evening, while spending the afternoon in the destroyed village.

Before he was to leave the place he called his home village – Konoha was merely a place of birth for him; this no-name village in the woods of Water country was where his heart belonged – Naruto decided to pray for those who died there once more... The Kyuubi jinchuuriki was almost finished with his prayer, when he felt someone approach the village. Even if the rain had stopped some time ago, thick mist that hung over the village prevented him from clearly seeing his 'guest'... Soon, Naruto could see that it was no one other than his sotaicho, who decided to visit this destroyed village for some reason. Upon closer inspection, though, the red-eyed blond could also see a couple of new additions to her attire.

"Greetings, sotaicho. Or should I say Mizukage-sama?" Mei made a sharp movement, as if she was startled by his greeting, and looked at him.

"Uzumaki-san?" The redhead asked. Naruto just nodded. She stopped next to him, looking at the repaired Gothic cross. "This cross... You built it?" Another nod. "I like it..."

"I will be sure to pass that to Akasha-shishou. It was her idea and design." Seeing confusion on newly-appointed Mizukage's face, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki elaborated. "She the spirit of my sword." The two of them stood there for some more time in silence, before Mei finally asked.

"Uzumaki-san,.. is there some connection between you and this village?" Naruto actually wanted to ask his commander similar question, but for some reason he didn't...

"I'm originally not from the Water country, but my home village ...disliked me to the point that they threw me away before I was six. I ended up in the Water country, and a family from this village adopted me. Unfortunately, they all were killed by three-tailed bastard's forces. I was the only one, who survived." The red-haired kunoichi looked at him strangely.

"I thought, I was the only survivor from Morisato village." The two looked at each other for several long seconds, before Naruto slowly removed the hood of his cloak, showing his face to Mei-sotaicho completely. It was several long years since the village was attacked and destroyed, and no longer looked like he was six years old – he looked sixteen now – and his eyes were now red and slitted, instead of cerulean with round pupils, his hair now was longer, even if as spiky as always... But those whisker-like marks on his face were a dead giveaway of who he really was... "Naru-chan?" The new Mizukage said in a slightly disbelieving voice, but then she tackled him to the ground, herself atop of him, and... She kissed him, and not in the way a sister would do: she kissed him on his lips, with her tongue invading his mouth, while she held him down to the muddy ground with her hands on his shoulders and her right knee next to his crotch.

"Mei-chan? It was you all this time?" The blond swordsman asked, once the kiss was broken. Mei smiled at him with her eyes closed, before silencing any further questions from him with another kiss. Feeling that there will be no way the red-haired kunoichi would stop snogging him any time soon, Naruto tried to at least change their position as he didn't fancy lying with his back on the cold muddy ground... Apparently, Mei was stronger than she looked to be, as she managed to keep him pinned down.

"Naru-chan, you've been a bad bad boy. Mei-chan will have to punish you." The new Mizukage whispered in a sultry voice, that made it quite clear that the 'punishment' will take place in a bedroom. The mental image of Mei in high-heeled boots and her corset that Akasha sent him didn't help the red-eyed blond at all...

* * *

Eventually, the red-haired Kage let her not-so-little-anymore adoptive brother out of her grasp – not before snogging the hell out of him – and the duo, after paying their respects to the dead, went to the nearest river to clean themselves up. In Naruto's case that was replacing his clothes with the spare once he always had in one of his storage scrolls. For Mei things were both easier and harder as she had to clean the armor platings she wore on her legs and to wash her hair. And if the kissing session left any questions about what will happen with their relationship, the 'show' the red-haired kunoichi made of washing her hair made it clear that they will (eventually) be lovers.

**~/ *** \~**

On their way back to the Hidden Mist the two shared the stories of their lives, and Mei was quite amazed with the amount of adventures Naruto went through. Once they were back to the village, the red-haired Kage asked the Kyuubi jinchuuriki to join Kirigakure no Sato as one of their elite jounin and a member of the Seven Swordsmen. Naruto declined it politely, saying that he was not ready to be a part of a hidden village – the scars on his soul Konoha left were still fresh – but he still pledged his loyalty to Kiri, while becoming a hired mercenary for them.

Naruto also had to work with the Fuuma clan as they departed back to Rice fields country – they did it only now as all twelve of them had to spend quite some time in the hospital, following the battle for the Kirigakure no Sato... Naruto and the higher ups of the new Hidden Mist escorted the Fuuma clan members to the Western port of the Water country, where there was a ship booked specially for them.

Saying goodbye to those, who assisted the rebellion so much took quite a lot of time, the official part, and even longer, the unofficial one. During the said unofficial part, a certain green-haired kunoichi found her way into Naruto's arms, as she hugged him goodbye. Kisses included... Even if Mei didn't want to admit it, she felt a sting of jealousy when she saw the other girl kiss her Naru-chan.

* * *

That's all, folks!  
**Read** and **Review**!


	13. Wind versus Lightning

Hello, everyone, here is the newest chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story. Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**miner249er**, **Umbra8191**, **sh8ad8ow**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **Ronin Kenshin**, **macabre-wolf**, **jafr86**, **fanficreader71**, **Naginator**, **ogihcI ikasoruK**, **reaper44r**, **god of all**, **luffyxrobin-luffyxnami**, **deadal**, **griffin blackwood**, **ChaosLord SilverLink310**, **Blackholelord**, **Nero Strauss**, **NANLIT**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **Akira Stridder**, **Still Not Dead Yet**, **xstofer**, **ebm6969**, **jinlai**, **Yami Kurushimi**, **Psudocode Samurai**, **Kyuubi's Masamune**, **Knives91**, **Vexit**, **Sandaime Hokage**, thanks for you reviews!  
**Highvalour**, yes, for now.  
**FerPeinRikudou**, well, she has dark-pink hair (a bit darker than Tayuya), so... I think, yes.  
**Wyrtha**, are you reading my mind? but, yes.  
**roboguy45**, lol.  
**TheDemonKingNaruto**, **xNamikazeKyuubix**, yes, Akasha will be the third 'girl' for Naruto. Once she gets a body in the real world.  
**kazikamikaze24**, Naruto (right now) is a hired mercenary - so genin teams for him. As for the rest of your ideas - read and see, which were right.  
**The Product of One Profession**, now something happens. =P  
**ranma hibiki**, **dbtiger63**, **BowTechsniper**, **Celestial Indigo**, **Victorules**, thanks, and the army camp wasn't that bad (even fired a couple of shots from a real anti-tank cannon)  
**friedrice4life**, triangle? It'll be a square. =)  
**Victorules**, I'll post the pic of the new sword when I stop feeling too lazy to do it.

*** Jutsu List**:  
**Kuro Tatsumaki** - (unknown rank) Black tornado - jutsu technique used by the henchmen of Kurosuki Raiga. The men will jump to each others shoulders and form two columns of five men. They will then extend blades from their knuckles. Each column will then begin to spin, becoming a large slicing vortex. The tornado will even be able to cut through stone.  
**Fuuton: shou** - (C-rank) Wind style: palm - Original jutsu that sends rather weak ball of compressed air towards the target.  
**Ikazuchi no Kiba** - (unknown rank) Lightning bolt fang - Drawing together his dual short swords, electrical energy will begin to crackle. A plume of of an electrified chakra-like essence will rise into the clouds above to activate the lightning to come crashing down on Raiga's target.  
**Fuuton: kiatsu no heki** - (B-rank) Wind style: air pressure wall - Original jutsu. For a couple of moments creates a protective sphere of wind around the user.  
**Fuuton: kaze no kiri** - (B-rank) Wind style: wind drill - A drilling wind projectile.  
**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba** - (A-rank) Wind style: wind sword - A powerful blade of wind.  
**Rairyuu no tatsumaki** - (unknown rank) Lightning dragon tornado - Drawing his two swords together, Raiga will raise them into the air and draw lightning down upon his body. The current will be contained within and around Raiga's form. He will then begin to spin in place forming a whirling vortex of wind and electricity. The vortex will take on the form of a dragon and strike out against his opponent. Even if the attack doesn't directly connect with his foe, the lightning can jump from the vortex to hit a nearby target.  
**Raikyuu** - (unknown rank) Lightning ball - Drawing his two swords together, Raiga will form a ball of electricity which he can hurl at his opponent.  
**Ikazucho no utage** - (unknown rank) Lightning bolt feast - Drawing together his dual short swords, electrical energy will begin to crackle. He will then implant his swords into the ground to send an electric current racing through the earth. When the current approaches its target, it can split into multiple tendrils to attack each target individually.  
**Fuuton: Reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - strong gust of wind sent towards his target. When acting in conjunction with another thrown weapon, the wind can increase its power and deadliness.  
**Fuuton: atsugai** - (B-rank) Wind style: pressure damage - This jutsu creates devasting wind blast.  
**Shunshin **- (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu.  
**Fuuton:**** d********aitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.  
**Ni-kon hei: rengou** - (secret technique) Two soul warrior: union - Naruto allows Akasha's spirit into his body, and they control it together. This allows wider range of attacks and greatly increased situation awareness, but maintaining this 'mode' is mentally straining as one needs to control only certain muscles of his body, while completely ignoring other.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

* * *

_This chapter is yet to be beta-read.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 11: Wind versus Lightning**

The week following the departure of the Fuuma clan members from the Water country, Naruto spent most of the time in Mei's bedroom. Naked. With the equally naked redhead on top of him as they had sex. Lots of sex... How did she manage to perform her duties as the Mizukage when they were at it all the time? What was making the blond swordsman worry was the fact that his 'nee-chan' was a bit into femdom, and Akasha was approving of that with her only comment being 'kinky'...

Oh well, the sex – especially with such hottie – was great, even though she could have been tying him to the bed a bit less often, and once Mei had had her share of fun with him, she loosened her metaphorical grip on him and allowed him out of her sight. That of course didn't mean that they stopped having sex... The red-haired Kage was still her feisty self, making Naruto wonder whether she had some demonic blood in her veins... Succubus blood to be exact.

It was about three weeks after the departure of the Fuuma clansmen, when Naruto received his first mission from Mei...

* * *

Once again the red-haired kunoichi had him on _their_ bed on his back, while she was kneeling between his legs with his sizable pleasure tool between her luxurious breasts. She loved the feeling of hot rigid flesh between her babes, and she was sure Naruto loved her titjobs as much... Inclining her head forward, Mei ran her tongue over the head of her man's cock, earning a low moan of pleasure from him. Smirking, the red-haired Kage pressed her tits tighter together, not stopping massaging his length with them, and started lavishing the head of his dick in attention of her tongue, smiling inwardly at the sounds _her_ Naruto was making.

"A-ah!" The blond moaned as her ministrations brought him to his release, which resulted in Mei's face and breasts being covered in rather generous amounts of cum. The redhead cleaned her face with her fingers, sucking them clean of spunk, and once she was finished there, she rubbed what was on her tits into them. The whole show show was so erotic...

"Someone's eager?" She asked teasingly, seeing her lover's rock-hard erection. The new Mizukage didn't give him any chance to reply as she took him into her mouth, making him moan instead. Not wasting even a moment of time, the redhead started blowing him off, varying the power and depth of her sucks all the time, while her skillful tongue was doing its own magic on Naruto's cock... As she continued sucking him, Mei felt his hand on her head, trying to control her. After some 'fight' the red-haired kunoichi allowed him to – being controlled was almost as big turn on for her as being the one in control was. So, now, with Naruto's hand controlling her, she was deep-throating him, the act she didn't exactly like only because too much saliva, in her opinion, dripped out of her mouth during it – otherwise it was just as good to her as a normal blowjob...

The red-eyed swordsman didn't last too long before Mei brought him to another orgasm, the first spouts of him seed going straight into her throat. Then the red-haired Kage forced her head a bit away from him, so that only the head of his cock was now in her mouth and the rest of his load ended there. Once he had finished cumming, she took him out of her mouth and savored her 'prize', playing with it with her tongue, before swallowing it all. And as she was massaging Naruto's ball while she was tasting his cum, she had him already ready for the next round.

"Ready for the main event?" Mei asked, as she positioned her dripping-wet pussy over his erect member. Then she sat down, taking all of his eight inches into herself in one go, and causing them both moan in pleasure... Naruto's hands found their way onto her hips, allowing him to control the rhythm of their copulation, choosing a fast one his lady loved so much.

"So-o good, Mei-chan! O-oh" The blond moaned as his 'mistress' was using every ounce of control over her inner muscles to increase their pleasure. The redhead smirked, before leaning forward to capture his lips with hers for a passionate kiss – all while he continued to thrust in and out of her tight pussy... The red-haired kunoichi was the first one to cum, crying out in pleasure and tightening around his hard length in a delicious way, but Naruto continued fucking her hard, only slowing down a bit. And so it didn't take long before she orgasmed again. This was too much for the blond and he came too, filling her womb with his hot cum... Spent for the moment, Mei collapsed on top of him, content smile on her face. But as the energy was returning to her, she rolled off him, his softening cock exiting her pussy with a slight wet popping sound. The redhead then pressed herself into his left side, while stroking him with one hand and trailing a random contour on his chest with other.

"Naru-chan..." She cooed. "I have a mission for you." Naruto let out an unintelligent sound of acknowledgment. "I want you to bring the Kiba swords for me." The redhead continued. "If the intelligence is right, someone named Kurosaki Raiga has them right now. He's rumored to be in the River country. Will you do this for me, Naru-chan?" Mei asked while giving a squeeze to his member. The red-eyed jinchuuriki just nodded in response, and moment later was kissed by his Love. "Thanks, Naru-chan!" She said, while getting back on top of him, once again positioning his cock to her eager pussy. "The night is still young, so..."

**~/ *** \~**

Getting to the River country for Naruto wasn't hard, even if he had to do this without alerting Konoha ninja of his presence – he had to cross Fire country, after all. Finding Raiga was a bit harder, but once the right questions were asked (and the right threats used), he was pointed towards a mountain, where Raiga could be found at.

Thick chakra-saturated mist that surrounded the mountain was a great help for the blond jinchuuriki as he didn't want to frighten his target away. Finding a good spot among several dead trees at the turn of the road, he suppressed his chakra signature and waited: Raiga was supposed to pass by this point in a couple of hours, if what he had heard about 'burials' in the village down there was to be believed...

* * *

Kurosaki Raiga, along with a group of thugs under his command was walking back to miners' village, when his secret partner Ranmaru alerted him that someone was waiting for them in near the turn of the road.

"Reveal yourself, trespasser!" Raiga yelled, drawing his Kiba swords and generating a ball of lightning between the blades. When there was no response, the rogue swordsman hurled his attack towards the 'trespasser'. But it slammed into a wall created by wind technique and dissipated.

"Kurosaki Raiga..." A disembodied voice said, before Naruto phased into the existence, leaning against one of the dead trees – up to now he was hiding himself with a ninjutsu he had found in Orochimaru's scrolls "I'm here to get your swords. You can give them up willingly, and we will part our ways. You can come with me to Kirigakure no Sato. Or I can take them from your dead body. I don't care which option you choose." Unfortunately, this didn't have any desirable effect on Raiga.

"Kill him!" The slightly insane man ordered to his thugs, who formed two columns of five man each, their weapons drawn and ready for battle.

"Try this, bastard! **Kuro Tatsumaki!**" The columns started spinning, thus becoming two slicing tornado.

"**Fuuton: shou!**" Simple and not that powerful wind technique, though, was enough to destroy thugs' jutsu and send them into the cliff, knocking them unconscious with the power of the impact. Naruto looked at Raiga, whose face, like his, was hidden by the hood of his cloak. "Is that your choice? Like I said, I don't care, but you should know that I'm the worst kind of opponent for you."

"**Ikazuchi no kiba!**" Was man's response. A plume of electrified chakra rose from his swords towards the heavy clouds in the sky. Moments later a powerful lightning bolt came crashing down onto Naruto.

"**Fuuton: kiatsu no heki!**" A wall of wind surrounded the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, protecting him from the attack. "You are troublesome." He said rather impassively, before drawing Akasha and pointing her at his opponent. "**Fuuton: kaze no kiri!**" Only thanks to Ranmaru's timely warning Raiga managed to dodge the wind drill sent towards him. "**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba!**" A wind sword that followed the drill, managed to cut Raiga's arm, though... Raiga was very stubborn man, as well as very lusting for a battle, so once he started fighting, he wasn't going to give up, no matter who or what his opponent was... Lifting his swords towards the skies, he summoned powerful lightnings, shaping them into a dragon-like tornado.

"**Rairyuu no tatsumaki!**" The 'dragon' let out a roar and charged towards Naruto, who wasn't fazed by this at all. Once again, a wall of wind surrounded him, and the dragon dissipated, when it slammed into the barrier. "**Raikyuu!**" Raiga generated a ball of lightning between his blades and threw it at his opponent, who didn't bother to use his wind protection and simply dodged the projectile. "**Raikyuu!**" The attack once again missed its intended target. More lightnings appeared around Raiga's swords. "**Ikazuchi no Utage!**" He yelled as he slammed the blades into the ground, sending electrical currents towards Naruto. The cloaked blond, though, jumped into the air and used two '**fuuton: reppushou**' techniques to propel himself away from the danger on the ground. "**Ikazuchi no kiba!**" The insane swordsman yelled, thinking that he managed to fry his opponent.

"**Fuuton: kiatsu no heki!**" Once again Naruto's wind wall technique protected him from the deadly lightnings... Landing onto the wall of the cliff, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki immediately sent several waves of the cutting wind at Raiga. The man, somehow, managed to dodge all of them, even if just barely. Not giving his opponent any chance to recover and counterattack, Naruto sent the next just towards him: "**Fuuton: atsugai!**" Raiga dodges the small ball of wind rather easily, but he didn't expect it to explode upon hitting the ground, and was thrown away, almost falling into the canyon in the process. Naruto **shunshin**'ed next to the man and tried to stab him with Akasha, but his opponent managed to block the attack somehow.

"This is your end!" The insane swordsman yelled. Then he started laughing madly, while charging a lot of lightning chakra through his swords, hoping to fry Naruto. But he forgot that his opponent was a wind user, and any lightning-based attacks were pretty much useless against him.

"Is it?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki asked, as he used some of his chakra to increase his strength to push Raiga away. And not giving his opponent any chance to recover, he continued attacking him with his sword, while sending low-power wind techniques from time to time – he had to limit himself there as he didn't want Raiga to fall into the canyon: getting the Kiba swords from there would be troublesome. But Raiga proved to be a decent swordsman, as it took Naruto some time to push the man into the corner...

Seeing that he had to change the balance in his favor quickly, if he wanted to live through this fight – there was no way in the hell he was giving up his swords or leaving this village – the insane swordsman tried to use the protrusions on his blades to rip Akasha from Naruto's hands. But he had underestimated the strength of 'the Genocide' and was the one, who lost his swords, instead. Still not wanting to go down without a fight, Raiga drew a kunai and tried to defend himself with it. Unfortunately for him, the wind-enhanced blade of Naruto's easily sliced through it and as well as through his neck, killing him.

"It is over..." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki commented as he picked the twin Kiba blades up, and sealed them away into one of his scrolls. There still was one thing that was strange about his now dead opponent: it appeared like the bag on his back had a chakra signature... Carefully cutting the bag open with his sword, Naruto found himself face to face with a boy of about seven or eight years old with red, slightly glowing eyes – doujutsu of some kind. "Um..." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki wasn't what to say in such a situation, and the boy seemed to be too frightened to say anything at all...

"D-don't k-kill me!.." The young boy finally pleaded. 'The Genocide' sighed and shook his head.

"You aren't a part of my mission, so I shouldn't care about what happens to you. But once upon a time I was a bit like you... I will bring you to a village. Where you go from there, is up to you." The boy didn't look like he believed him much, but still nodded... Securing Akasha on his back, Naruto picked him up. "I don't have time to bury him, nor do I usually do that for my enemies, but leaving him like this is unacceptable." The red-eyed blond said, looking at the Raiga's body. Drawing a lighter out of his pouch, Naruto created a small fire with it. "**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" A gust of wind he had unleashed towards the dead swordsman was turned into a torrent of fire, that incinerated everything in its path... Just several seconds later, only ashes were left from Raiga. "Well, lets go..."

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto dropped the boy – his name was Ranmaru – at the small inn near the miners' village: the old lady who owned the inn was kind, and looked like in a couple of years she would really need some help in running her small business. Hopefully, the boy won't have to live on the battlefields any longer – it was something Naruto wished no child should be put through...

Having bid farewell to the old lady and her new helper, the red-eyed swordsman headed back to the Water country. Crossing the Fire country unnoticed, once again, proved to be not a very hard task, though, he had almost ran into a genin team lead by a muscular jounin with a bowl cut that was wearing green spandex suit (and there was younger clone on the team... brr...). When he was finally aboard a ship and sailing back to the Water country, the young swordsman decided that he wanted to talk to Akasha face to face – ever since that battle with Yagura, he had an idea that was keeping him on the trot...

'_**Nikon hei: rengou!**_' Naruto and _his_ vampiress performed the technique, bringing her into his mindscape. That done, the red-eyed blond too entered the 'catacombs' that were his mind. Akasha was waiting for him there – like always, in her leather 'battle' corset and shorts, which, after his escapades with Mei, were even more arousing than before... As he approached her, the vampiress blurred out of existence, reappearing behind him. Unlike their previous meeting, though, this time Naruto was fast enough to turn around as she was 'attacking' him... only to find himself in a firm hug with her lips in the crook of his neck.

"**You're getting better, master...**" Akasha whispered to him, before gently biting his neck to drink some of his 'blood'. Some thirty seconds later she backed from his neck a big, but still didn't let him out of her embrace. "**What did you want to talk to me about?**" She asked, looking into his eyes.

"Well..." Naruto answered. "I was thinking on whether it will be possible to bring you into the real world." The vampires processed what was said for a moment, before replying:

"**Like resurrecting me?**" Even though as a vampire and, later, spirit of the sword, she could live for millennia and eventually tire of living, Akasha was yet to reach the state when she would be ready to die. So, if she were given a chance to continue living, she wouldn't let it go...

"Not exactly..." Her 'master' replied. "I don't think I can find a way to bring you back permanently. But I'm sure that summoning you to the real world into a temporary body – like a shadow clone – is possible: you aren't bound to just your sword, as you are standing in front of me right now..." He finished with a blush appearing on his face, as Akasha hugged him closer to her impressive chest.

"**Thank you, Naru-chan! When can we try this?**" She said happily and with some childish petulance, while using the nickname Mei had given him.

"Don't know. I still have to check a couple of moments: I don't want to harm you or myself because of some errors in the plan." Naruto replied. "But I promise that I will solve the problems soon." The vampiress smiled.

"**OK.**" And then she suddenly kissed him. He still could taste some blood in the kiss, but it was actually a turn on for him... them and not anything else. Akasha was the one who broke the kiss, and, looking into her red and slitted, vampiric, eyes, Naruto saw that very same emotion he had already seen in Mei's eyes when she was about to drag him into _their_ bed for the first time... Desire. Akasha wanted him. He was proven correct there, when she created a large armchair right behind them an, finally releasing him from her embrace, started undoing the strips on her corset.

"**Hey! At least don't do this right in front of me, hairless monkeys!**" The Kyuubi boomed from its cage. Akasha's glare was enough to shut it up, as she had sometime ago established herself as the top monster out there.

"**Now, Naru-chan, how about you make me feel good? I promise, I'll be a bad girl for you.**" She asked seductively, while baring her perfect breasts. How could he say 'no' to her?

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That's all, folks!  
**Read** and **Review**!


	14. Peacemaking and research

Hello everyone, here's the newest chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story. Enjoy! I apologize in advance for the quality of the chapter: my inspiration is still somewhere far away, but I felt that shan't keep you waiting for the update any longer... I'll try to update my other "_**Naruto**_" stories soon as well, but I will promise nothing as writing right now isn't easy for me, thank to those awful writer's blocks... At least writing updates for the existing stories - I have started another project which will take place once I finish writing "_**Ronin**_" (it's more than 70% complete at this point): I'm going to write a "_**Freezing**_"/"_**Naruto**_" crossover. With an unusual pairing. =) But it still will have to wait as I plan on finishing this story first...

*** Review response**:  
**miner249er**, **XoreandoX**, **TheDemonKingNaruto**, **Naginator**, **fanficreader71**, **Umbra8191**, **grimangel163**, **roboguy45**, **Akira Stridder**, **alchemists19**, **The-lazy-bum**, **Garuda 1 Talisman**, **jafr86**, **sh8ad8ow**, **griffin blackwood**, **Knives91**, **Sandaime Hokage**, **DEBob19**, **Ronin Kenshin**, **warriorx559**, **kiyomos**, **chm01**, **pyro357**, **Polar-Bear-King**, **Olaf74**, thank you for your reviews, folks!  
**RasenShuriken92**, what can I say: vampires like to fuck too. =)  
**Wyrtha**, **Slytherin's Pimp**, yes, you are right: I have one such meeting planned. Three guesses when and with whom.  
**Highvalour**, as a generally strong fighter, who uses a sword (_THE_ sword).  
**BowTechsniper**, yeah, I got. 100mm cannons are cool.  
**deadal**, live his life like he wants to. Having girls loving him, included.  
**Nero Strauss**, I have no plans for Kisame yet (and, likely there won't be a meeting between them), but Naruto will meet another very strong and well-known swordsman soon.  
**ogihcI ikasoruK**, they'll graduate in seven months actually.  
**xNamikazeKyuubix**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, no Akasha isn't in the harem yet (per se, of course). She'll become an official member soon, though.  
**Toa Naruto**, *smiles while adjusting the plans for the future chapters*  
**nxkris**, Naruto will spend some more time in Kumo, but, ultimately, he will become a jounin in Kiri.  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, if I remember correctly, I have answered you via PM.  
**Dante siegfried 888**, 11 really, 16 by body, 20-something by his mind.

Also, thanks for 525+ reviews total and 900+ favorites.

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Shunshin** - (D-rank) Body flicker - 'Teleportation' technique.  
**Kage bunshin** - (A-rank) Shadow clones - creates physical non-elemental copies of the user. Chakra is split evenly between the user and the clones.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

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**Chapter 12: Peacemaking and research  
**

Naruto moved through the Hidden Mist village, heading to the Mizukage palace to report the success of his mission. Then he would have to stop by the armory to place the Kiba swords into the Armory storehouses, before heading 'home' for some rest... He wasn't sure what Mei would want to do him next, but if he was to stay in the village for the time being, he planned to see what he could find about the art of sealing the ninja library of Kiri.

As the Kyuubi jinchuuriki approached the palace, guards at the doors bowed to him, before letting him in. Quickly getting to the top floor where the Mizukage's office was located, the red-eyed swordsman looked around and, seeing that there was no one else waiting for an audience, went into the village's leader's office. Like he could have expected, Mei was busy going over the stacks of various documents the bureaucrats of the village were producing for her to sign. Of course, as soon as he entered her office, the red-haired Kage looked up at him.

"Welcome back, Naru-chan." She greeted warmly, though, the blond was sure that were he anybody else, he would have been threatened with a death if he didn't leave immediately. "I take it that your mission was successful." It wasn't a question: she believed in him so much that she was sure he could not fail. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki merely nodded in response, before producing a scroll from his cloak. He unrolled it on the free space of Mei's table, before unsealing the swords. The redhead picked one of them and examined it: while she wasn't that about weapons – she favored ninjutsu, especially those that melted or burned her opponents – but it was not that difficult to tell that the swords were real. "Very well, Naru-chan, drop them at the Armory, section C, will you? And be at home tonight, I'll give you the mission _payment_. Personally." Shrugging off at her attempt of telling him that she would ride him tonight till she was too tired to move anymore, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki sealed the swords back into the scroll before saying:

"By your leave then." He was about to **shunshin** out of her office, when Mei stopped him.

"Actually there is something that I to inform you about." She said in the tone that indicated she wasn't that pleased with whatever was the reason of that. "An _emissary_ from the Fuuma clan arrived two days ago, seeking to ally the clan with Kirigakure no Sato." Quickly thinking about what about this could have upset the red-haired kunoichi so much, Naruto came to a conclusion that this emissary was Kagerou, and Mei-chan was simply afraid that the other beauty would take him away from her... "And she was seeking you out for some reason." Yep, that must have been Kagerou-chan.

"I'll see what I can do about that." The red-eyed swordsman replied without showing any strong emotions: he didn't need nor want his onee-chan turned lover to strap him to her bed for a couple of days just because she was afraid of losing him to another woman. "If that's all, I go drop by the Armory then." At her nod, he disappeared in a swirl of wind and some mist. Reappearing on the street, right in front of the entrance to the Mizukage's palace, Naruto started walking towards the Armory...

* * *

He arrived there some fifteen minutes later, and went straight to the jounin in charge. This jounin happened to be an elderly man, already in his sixties, with some battle scars on his body to prove that he had seen wars other than the bloodline purges. And while this man was working for Yagura, he himself didn't have anything against bloodlines, so he was let to continue his ninja duties, which by now was making sure that the other had all weapons and other supplies they needed.

"Greetings, Uzumaki-san." The elderly jounin greeted. "I was told by Mizukage-sama that you will be bringing the great Kiba swords to my storehouses." Naruto nodded.

"That is correct." Producing the sealing scroll from his cloak, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki unsealed the swords, before giving them to the other shinobi. The elderly jounin picked the Kiba swords and examined them, finding them to be in pristine condition like they were almost a decade ago when Ringo Ameyuri got them.

"Very well, I have them placed in the Armory storehouses until their new wielder is selected." The scarred jounin said. "I thank you, Uzumaki-san, for doing a great service of bringing them back to the village." Nodding, Naruto wished the man a good day and left the Armory to look for Kagerou: he needed to sort out the things between her and Mei as soon as possible.

* * *

Finding the green-haired kunoichi of the Fuuma clan wasn't that hard: while he himself wasn't a Kiri ninja, he had a lot of rights in the village, including the right to see hotel registries and the likes. Plus the village was still recovering from the final battle of the civil war, and only three hotels were currently working... He found Kagerou in the second hotel he 'visited', "the Golden fog", and, once he got the number of the room she was staying in from the maitre d'hotel, he went there in hopes of making the first step in resolving the situation between two beauties.

Once he reached the door of Kagerou's room, Naruto knocked. There seemed to be no reaction. Hoping that she was there wand was just sleeping or something, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki knocked again, this time harder... Several seconds later he heard the green-haired Fuuma kunoichi walking up to the door.

"Who's it?" She asked, sounding like she really was woken up by him knocking on her door.

"It's me, Kagerou-chan..." Naruto wasn't given a chance to finish as Kagerou opened the door and pulled him into her room and hugged him. The blond gladly returned the embrace, and for some time they stayed just like that. Then Kagerou, in a moment of boldness, rose on her toes – she was a bit shorter than the blond swordsman in her arms – and pressed her lips to his. He eagerly returned the kiss, and for several seconds they stood there lip-locked... Finally, breaking the kiss, Naruto also stepped out of her embrace: he was here 'on business', after all. "Mei-chan told me that you have arrived here while I was away on a mission." He said.

"Mei-chan?" The green-haired beauty asked, her eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Mizukage-sama otherwise." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki elaborated.

"Oh." Kagerou breathed out. "She had informed me that you were ...inaccessible when I arrived to the village two days ago." She said, before adding quietly: "And she seems to have problems with me." Naruto nodded.

"I know. But you must understand, Mei-chan was my adopted nee-chan before the bloodline purges reached our village. And after that, for years we thought we lost each other, and, right now, she is a bit too possessive of me as she's afraid of losing me again." The blond made a pause. "I'm neither blind nor stupid, I know that you have feelings for me that go beyond just a friendship, but Mei-chan sees that too, and so you are her rival for my affection and love." The green-haired girl looked at him with 'puppy eyes'.

"Do... do you like me, Naruto-kun?" She asked almost in a whisper. Naruto was silent for several seconds, before answering.

"I like you, Kagerou-chan, a lot, but... you know how I grew up? I'm not sure which type of love I do feel towards you." He said, trying his best to get out of this potentially killer question. It seemed to work, as the green-haired kunoichi relaxed a bit, though she was still standing really close to him, as if she was afraid he would evaporate if otherwise.

As Kagerou had mellowed out, Naruto slowly changed the topic from from their relationship to the reasons why she returned to the Hidden Mist, and how they were to work to for an alliance of sorts with the Fuuma clan... Of course, he also promised her to talk to Mei-chan to make it clear to the redhead that Kagerou wasn't there to steal him from her – hopefully this will stop the hostility the Fifth Mizukage felt towards the Fuuma girl...

* * *

After his meeting with Kagerou, Naruto headed to the ninja library, which thankfully wasn't damaged during the siege, as wasn't damaged the collection of books and scrolls it contained. If there was what he needed – the Kyuubi jinchuuriki wasn't sure, as Kiri's specialty was kenjutsu and water ninjutsu, not the art of sealing – than he would be able to access it... And, since it was actually past midday now, he decided just to look for what he'd need today, and start the actual research tomorrow. Akasha, no matter how much she wanted to be in the real world again, agreed to wait at least that much...

Like it happened in the hotels, he was welcomed to the library as a hero of the Hidden Mist village (even if he wasn't a Kiri ninja), and was given the right to browse through the entire collection housed there. Thanking the librarian for generosity, the blond swordsman disappeared among the bookshelves as he started looking for the scrolls on advanced seals...

Several hours and browsing through entire fuuinjutsu section later, he had found eleven scrolls that had a chance of having the information he needed. Unfortunately though, tonight he will not be able to study them – Mei's hints about her plans for tonight made that clear – thus he decided to ask the librarian to put those aside for him 'till tomorrow. The man was all to glad to comply with the request.

**~/ *** \~**

"Mei-chan?.." Naruto asked as he raised his head a bit. The redhead that was draped all over him moaned something unintelligent in response, her mind still hazy from the pleasures of their sex. "Hime?.." He asked again, giving her tight sexy ass a squeeze to get her attention.

"Mm..." Mei moaned as she lifted her head to 'look' at her lover. "Something you need, Naru-chan?" She asked, while lazily pulling herself up against him a bit, her incredible breasts and pussy rubbing against his chest and stomach in a delicious way. He then pressed he closer to him, making her sigh contently, before leaning forward and capturing her lips for a kiss... "Mm?" The red-haired kunoichi 'asked' him again once they broke the kiss.

"Can I ask something from you?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki asked. In response Mei slid a bit down and rubbed their crotches together, even if he knew that she wasn't up for another round, not yet at least... He shook his head. "I want you to make peace with Kagerou-chan. Give her a chance at least." The redhead pouted. Naruto continued looking into her eyes, till she gave up.

"Oka~ay..." She finally said. "But no promises." The blond sighed. Mei-chan was so stubborn at times... But at least she agreed to give Kagerou-chan a chance. He gave her another kiss as a 'thank you', before laying back down and allowing sleep to claim him...

**~/ *** \~**

After reminding his red-haired lover of the deal they stroke the last night, right after he had finished fucking her through seven heavens of bliss, Naruto headed back to library to research ways of bringing Akasha to the real world... Hopefully, the scrolls he had picked yesterday will be of any help in this endeavor...

Since it was still an early morning when he left the house he shared with Mei-chan, the streets of Kirigakure no Sato were mostly empty, and the Kyuubi jinchuuriki could move without attracting too much unwanted attention to himself – even though everyone knew that he _belonged_ to their Mizukage, he still had a number of fan-girls, who sometimes still were a problem for him... Arriving to the library, Naruto picked the scrolls he had asked to put aside for him from the librarian and, finding a quiet table in the corner of the hall started working.

After going through first three scrolls the blond swordsman found nothing that he could use: so far it seemed that all advanced seals that one could learn in Kiri were either self-repair or auto-replication or elemental sealing ones. Surely, those were useful, but there was so much more one could with fuuinjutsu than that... But Naruto didn't let that dissuade him and continued searching.

In the sixth scroll, he found the first array that might be useful for him there: this particular sealing array had strengthening chakra constructs as its purpose and was used in an attempt to recreate shadow clone jutsu sometime during the First Great Shinobi war. The attempt failed, but the array itself was working as it should be, so the Kyuubi jinchuuriki decided to copy it down. He will go over it with Akasha later on to see how it could be incorporated into the _summoning_ he was trying to create... While, the vampiress wasn't as good with current type of fuuinjutsu as he was, she still was an unparalleled master of runic arrays, and was really good with weaving arrays together...

In the next three scroll there was a couple of useful seals, but none of those was of any good for his current task, so Naruto didn't pay them much mind at this point... In the pre-last scroll, though, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki found the array he was pretty much looking for: a seal that could bind spirit to a real and solid object. Of course, it needed modifications, so that Akasha would return to the sword (or to him) when her 'body' is destroyed either by a 'killing' blow or by using up all of the chakra it was made from, but the seal still was something of a cornerstone of the whole project.

Already having the bases for all of the arrays he needed for the project, Naruto looked through the last scroll, but found nothing useful that he didn't know there. Shrugging, he rolled all of the scrolls up and returned them to their places... He would have stayed in the library, brainstorming how to make a body for his vampiress, but he wasn't sure that the librarian would welcome twenty something of his clones, as well as the discussion they will have. So, instead, Naruto chose to relocate to the one of rarely used training grounds in the far corner of the village, where he will not be disturbed...

* * *

It took the blond swordsman nearly five hours of work with two dozens of shadow clones helping him to figure out how the jutsu he was trying to create should work... The best idea so far was creating a reinforced **kage bunshin** that lacked its own 'soul' and was set to imitate Akasha's appearance, and then binding her spirit to the said shadow clone. This plan was not fool-proof and Naruto knew that well without the vampiress pointing it out, but there weren't any other feasible ideas of how to give her a body, temporarily or otherwise... So they decided to try it.

But before they could try it, the soulless and reinforced against physical damage shadow 'clone' was to be developed, which mean adding reinforcement and filtering arrays to the one that was the base of the original jutsu, and doing so in a way that would allow summoning such a construct without any lengthy rituals.

The task set, he, his **kage bunshin** and Akasha went to work, though, since it was just a couple of hours before the sunset, it was doubtful that they will be able to progress much. Still, starting the job was the best while the ideas were fresh in their minds...

* * *

Only the lack of the natural light forced the Kyuubi jinchuuriki to stop working on the jutsu and call it a day. He and Akasha made a nice progress today, but the jutsu still needed weeks if not months of work, before it could be called complete by any stretch of that word.

Dismissing his shadow clones and absorbing their ideas and thoughts on _the project_, Naruto rolled up the scrolls he used to write down the ideas and draw sketches of arrays for the new jutsu. Sealing them all into another scroll, the blond swordsman headed home, hoping that Mei-chan was in good mood tonight and wouldn't be very angry at him for being so late...

Apparently, though, the bane of all Kage, paperwork, kept the redhead at her office, as when Naruto arrived to their home, she wasn't there. So, after fixing himself a quick meal, the blond swordsmen returned to his work, choosing to sit around the table in the corner of the common room with the mass of his scrolls spread on the desk...

He was so absorbed by his research that he was paying to attention to the time, thus he wasn't sure when exactly the redhead had returned, even if he had heard her dropping down into one of the armchairs in the room – he was having his back to the room so he couldn't see her – definitely tired from the long day.

"How was you day, Mei-chan?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki asked, not looking away from his scrolls: he had to finish writing the array that should be a connector between **kage bunshin** base and the reinforcement seal down before it fled his head. And the thought of the red-haired kunoichi in her home clothes weren't helping him...

"Remind me, why I chose to become the Mizukage?" She replied with a tired sigh. He didn't even need to see her to know that her today's fight with the mountains of paperwork had exhausted her. "Anyway... I did as you have asked and talked to Kagerou-_san_." Mei continued. "It wasn't easy, but we managed to come to an agreement." Naruto allowed himself a small, almost inaudible sigh of relief: there will be no more fighting between those two girls... Dipping his brush in the inkwell, the blond swordsman started drawing the final block of the symbols for the array he was working on. "But so that you know, you're still _mine_." The redhead added then.

As he finished adding the last symbol to the array, Naruto put his brush down and turned around in the armchair, so that now he was facing the room. And then he blushed: Mei-chan was sitting... lying sideways in the armchair in the opposite corner of the room, dressed in a loose white T-shirt and her black lace panties...

Damned Akasha! Ever since their time in his mindscape Naruto couldn't look at the woman in an armchair the same way he used to... It was simply impossible after what the vampiress did with him on that particular piece of furniture... And to make the things even worse, the red-haired kunoichi saw the effect she had on him and beckoned him with her finger so very sexily... Damn you, Akasha!

"Naru-chan..." The redhead in front of him whispered with a pout on her face that made her absolutely irresistible. "Come to me..." The blond teen shook his head slightly as he got out of his own armchair: it will be a long night tonight... A very long night with the hot as hell bombshell that Mei-chan was. Not that he was complaining...

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**read** and **review**!


	15. Tests

Hello, everyone, here's the newest chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story! Enjoy!

Also, I decided to finish "_**Ronin**_" before updating any other "_**Naruto**_" stories I have. There are only five chapters to go (including this one) - I should be done in about one month, so bear with me. This doesn't mean that I won't post any stubs for "_**Naruto**_" stories in my "_**Scrapbook**_"

*** Review response**:  
**karthik9**, **Naginator**, **fanficreader71**, **Umbra8191**, **god of all**, **TheBlackSeaReaper**, **Psudocode Samurai**, **blackroselover**, **King of the Fallen**, **Fox of the Blood Moon**, **RE5 forever**, **LbcLostKid**, **BioHazard82**, **Aeon master of time and space**, **Ronin Kenshin**, thanks for your reviews, folks!  
**chm01**, I've answered you via PM.  
**Wyrtha**, no, not next. But that will happen soon enough. As for kids... contraceptive jutsu are being used.  
**deadal**, soon enough, and 'my' Haku will be male.  
**warriorx559**, **Polar-Bear-King**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, this chapter holds your answer. *wink*  
**Queryan**, as long as they don't kill each other first.  
**Slytherin's Pimp**, the last chapter maybe.  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, they... came to an agreement about their roles. Mei is the dom one. =)

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Fuuton: kiatsu no heki** - (B-rank) Wind style: air pressure wall - Original jutsu. For a couple of moments creates a protective sphere of wind around the user.  
**Kawarimi no jutsu** - (E-rank) Change of body stance technique - User substitutes himself with a nearby object.  
**Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - A strong gust of wind. Can be used to empower fire jutsu.  
**Katon: haisekishou** - (B-rank) Fire style: burning ash accumulation - Creates a cloud of combustive gas.  
**Ura shishou** - (unknown rank, possibly S) Reverse four image seal - Upon activation, sucks everything within certain radius into the seal and seals it away permanently.  
**Shunshin no jutsu** - (D-rank) Body flicker technique - Moderate distance 'teleportation'.  
**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba** - (A-rank) Wind style: sword of wind - Powerful wind blade.  
**Fuuton: reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - A powerful gust of wind. Can be used to accelerate thrown projectiles.  
**Raikyuu** - (unknown rank) Lightning ball - Drawing his two swords together, jutsu user will form a ball of electricity which he can hurl at his opponent.  
**Katon: endan** - (C-rank) Fire style: fireball - A fireball.  
**Youso fuuin** - (fuuinjutsu of an unknown rank) Element seal - can absorb a moderately powerful ninjutsu and then release it back (**Youso kaiin**).  
**Kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.

**WARNING**: The lemon in this chapter may cause burns ! (It's hot!)

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

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_This chapter is not beta-read.  
_

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**chapter 13: Tests**

It was a week since the Kyuubi jinchuuriki had returned from his mission to reclaim Kiba swords, and, somehow, Mei had already found someone who could become their new wielder. And since Naruto was the strongest swordsman currently in Kiri, it was up to him to test whether this new wielder was worthy of becoming one of the seven. Even if he himself wasn't even a Kiri ninja...

So today the red-eyed blond was to have a match with and judge worthiness of some swordsman, who Mei though had a potential to become one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū. But Naruto wasn't complaining about this at all: he had spent entire week with his nose in the scrolls, working on his new project – the one to bring Akasha back into the real world, even if temporarily – and now he did need some 'warm up'.

Naruto arrived to the stadium a good quarter of an hour before the midday, when the match was to start: he needed to be there before his opponent, after all... The arena was the same as it normally was: a vast circular empty space with a couple of trees and a pond near the edge not far away from where the Kage booth was – fighting there wouldn't be hard as he will have all the space he might need for maneuvering... Same was true for his opponent as well, of course.

Finally it was the time, and Mei started the announcements for the upcoming match. And these announcements gave the Kyuubi jinchuuriki the name of his opponent: Hitagi Tsururugi. And once her name was announced, the kunoichi walked onto the arena. She was about twenty years old and had pretty long straight purple hair that were made into a ponytail. Her eyes were jade and, surprisingly, weren't that of a cold-blooded warrior. She was wearing standard Kiri jounin uniform plus Kiba swords on her back... Since Naruto couldn't remember seeing her in the rebel forces, she must have been one of those many ninja that had been following Yagura simply because he was their Mizukage...

When Hitagi saw who her opponent was, she froze for a brief moment, before continuing to the center of the arena, where _he_ was standing: she was proud ninja of Kirigakura no Sato and, thus, she shouldn't show her fear to _anyone_.

"Genocide-sama..." She said a bit quietly as she bowed to her opponent. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki sighed: it was one thing when his enemies used this moniker, but hearing an ally call him that was ...not something that sounded right.

"Call me Naruto, or Uzumaki, Hitagi-san: we're not enemies." He said once he bowed back to her. "But we both know why we're here today, so let the test begin. Show me that you are worthy of the title one of the Seven."

"As you say, Uzumaki-sama." The purple-haired kunoichi replied. Mei, seeing that both opponents on the arena floor were ready to fight, announced the beginning of the match... Hitagi immediately jumped back as far as she could, while simultaneously throwing a handful of kunai at the red-eyed swordsman in front of her... Feeling like showing off a bit, Naruto used his **fuuton: kiatsu no heki** jutsu to stop the projectiles, before sending a wind blade after his opponent. The kunoichi simply jumped over it and drew the Kiba swords. Using them as the medium, she created several balls of lightning and 'threw' them at the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

Naruto simply substituted himself with one of the rocks that lay on the arena outside the targeted area of his opponent's attack, and immediately blew several small balls of compressed wind at Hitagi. The purple-haired kunoichi used **kawarimi** to transport herself away from the danger and closer to him, immediately charging at him with her swords ready for the strike. 'The Genocide' allowed her to come close, before blowing her away with a wind wall. But didn't just let her get away: he dashed after her and tried to cleave her into two vertically with Akasha... Hitagi barely blocked the red sword with 'her' Kiba swords, but the strength Naruto had put behind his attack still sent her straight towards the ground.

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" Using his right knee as the launching point for the justu, creating a powerful gust of wind to send the kunoichi flying away from him... Despite her rough landing, Hitagi was quick to recover and stand back up. She was confused that Naruto wasn't attacking her, though, and, instead, was standing pretty much where he was when he had attacked her the last time... Even though she was sure that something wasn't right and that there was some kind of trap, she still decided to attack him.

"**Katon: haisekishou!**" The purple-haired kunoichi breathed out a cloud of combustive ash, which she detonated a moment later with a burst of lightning from her swords to create a smoke screen... She burst out of the smoke, only to see perimeter seals placed on the ground activate, followed by another seal a moment later. '_**Ura shishou?**_' Hitagi screamed in her mind. '_I must get the hell out of here!_' Using **shunshin**, she 'jumped' as far away from the seal as was possible within the confines of the arena... When instead of a deadly black sphere, only a poof of smoke exited the array, the purple-haired kunoichi understood that she was left looking a fool... The problem, though, was in the fact that while she was trying to escape the fuuinjutsu 'attack', she had lost the sight of her enemy and now couldn't see him anywhere...

Using a pulse of chakra, she tried to sense her opponent. And she did, but for some reason it looked like he was almost directly above her – she was barely a feet away from the arena wall, so there was a possibility that her 'readings' were accurate... Looking up, Hitagi saw that Naruto, indeed, was standing on the wall, roughly five meters over her head. And he was holding a kunai by its ring with the tip of its blade pointing down to the earth and a tag of some kind wrapped around the knife's handle... Giving her a smile, the red-eyed blond let the kunai fall. Reacting instantly, the purple-haired kunoichi jumped away from the falling blade, but a moment later was forced to **shunshin** away again as the tag around kunai's handle suddenly sent out a number of other kunai, these ones with explosive tags attached and activated.

"**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba!**" Naruto said as he appeared in front his opponent, while sending a wind blade at her feet using Akasha as the medium. Hitagi, of course, jumped over the attack. "**Fuuton: reppushou!**" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki sent a powerful gust of the wind from his free hand, sending the airborne kunoichi flying into the wall behind her. He tried to stab her with his sword then, but she, somehow, managed not only to block him, but also to throw him back a bit.

"**Raikyuu!**" She sent a ball of lightning at Naruto who had to create wall of wind to protect himself against the attack. That was exactly what Hitagi needed right now. "**Katon: endan!**" The fireball went through the dying wind wall only growing in power as it continued on its way towards the Kyuubi jinchuuriki...

"**Youso fuuin!**" ...And it was sucked into the sealing array that was on Naruto's palm. The red-eyed blond made a single-handed handseal. "**Youso kaiin!**" The fireball was released from the seal, but now it was sent back to its original creator. "**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" A wind jutsu further increased its power... Hitagi **shunshin**'ed away from the danger, not wanting to be hit by her own fireball, and reappeared right behind her opponent. She tried to cut his back, but Naruto somehow blocked both of 'her' swords with his red one, and all that he managed to do was a cut on his cloak. "Not bad..." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki commented, before kicking her away from him and turning around and placing Akasha's blade to her neck. "But it ends here." Hitagi sighed and let the Kiba swords fall onto the ground.

"I admit my defeat." She said. Naruto nodded and returned his sword to its place on his back. Then he picked 'her' swords up and gave them back to her.

"I do not know about Mizukage-sama's decision... Which is the final say in your joining the Seven." The red-eyed swordsman said. "But you pass my test." Hitagi almost dropped the swords again when she heard this.

"B-But I've lost... And..." Naruto raised a palm to 'say' that was to stop talking and listen to him.

"Your chances of winning against me were never high. The purpose of my test was to see how you would handle yourself in the combat situation, your ability to think on your feet and finally your resolve to fight. You've passed them all: you went against an opponent stronger than you without fear, you were able to adequately dodge my attacks and even use my jutsu against me. You used your jutsu in not very common ways to try to get to me, and were it not for my experience, I would have fallen for those. You also showed an ability to learn trick of your opponent and use them as your own." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki explained. "You're still growing, and, I have no doubt, you'll a legend of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist."

"T-Thank you, Uzumaki-sama." Hitagi replied while bowing to him. The blond in front of her shrugged.

"Now let's see what Mei-... Mizukage-sama has to say about your performance today." And **shunshin**'ed to the Kage booth. The purple-haired kunoichi followed him a moment later...

**~/ *** \~**

Once the test for Hitagi was finished – Mei agreed with Naruto there and the purple-haired kunoichi became the newest member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū – the Kyuubi jinchuuriki returned beck home and continued his works on the sealing arrays. And like it sometimes happened with him when he became too engrossed in his work, he completely lost his sense of time...

"Naru-chan, I'm home!" Mei called him as she entered the living room. "We have guests tonight." She added then, causing her (blond) lover to turn around in his armchair... Indeed, the red-haired Kage wasn't the only who had just entered the house: behind here there stood Kagerou, who positively looked a bit uneasy and... was that a blush on her face?

"Welcome home!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki replied, before summoning a single shadow clone to go cook something for dinner, while he himself returned to his work: he had almost completed the array he was currently working on anyway, so postponing that until tomorrow seemed not like a good idea... Well, another couple hours later Naruto wasn't so sure about that, as he had troubles with finishing the array the right way: it seemed that no matter how he tried to do it, it wasn't turning out to be just right...

"Naru-chan..." Mei whispered into his ear as she wrapped her hands around his neck from behind. "I need you in bed." Oh yes, right, it was already nighttime. "Now." The redhead added then in her 'patented' sweet-killer tone... Nodding, Naruto put his brush and inkwell away and turned around. He was a bit surprised to see that his red-haired lover wasn't naked already – well, the T-shirt she was wearing left little to the imagination, especially since it was barely long enough to hide her nether lips – but paid little mind to this as Mei ofter spiced the things up with some erotic clothes, ans her current 'attire' definitely qualified as such.

"I'll be there in a moment." He replied, rising from the armchair and heading to the bathroom... A couple of minutes later he emerged from there and went to their bedroom where Mei had disappeared to. Entering the said room, the red-eyed blond was surprised to see Kagerou, now clad only in her bra and panties, sitting on her knees on the bed. He didn't have much time to stay surprised, though, as the Mizukage 'attacked' him from behind, wrapping her hands around his torso and pressing her lips to his neck, slowly working her kisses towards his mouth... The whole time the two of them were snogging, the Fuuma kunoichi remained sitting on the bed, rubbing her thighs together from time to time as she was being turned on by the erotic sight in front of her... As soon as they broke their kiss, Naruto looked into Mei's eyes, asking her the silent question.

"I told you, we have come to an agreement, didn't I, Naru-chan?" The redhead replied. "Kagerou-chan will be with us tonight." And not giving him a chance to reply, she pushed him on the bed and, removing her T-shirt, lay next to him for some more kissing... Sometime while they were making out, Mei got the green-haired girl to join them, bringing the new dimension of sensations into their kisses. And while they were at it, Naruto and Kagerou lost their clothes as well and continued kissing while their hands were roaming their hot naked bodies...

"Mm... This was incredible." The Fuuma girl breathed out, once the trio stopped making out. Mei glanced at her.

"Hold your horses, _darling_, we're just getting started." The redhead replied, before shifting on the bed to run her tongue along the side of _her_ Naruto's cock, making the said blond let out a quiet moan of pleasure. She licked his hard length several more times, before taking his head into her mouth and sucking on it like it some delicious lollipop. Not to be outdone, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki snaked his right hand between Mei's legs and began thrusting two of his fingers into her tight wet pussy, making the red-haired kunoichi moan around his shaft. At the same time he guided Kagerou back for more kissing with his other hand...

The redhead was giving her damn best to pleasure her lover as she sucked him off, while also enjoying herself, and no matter how great his sexual stamina was, Mei soon brought Naruto to his release as he sent loads of cum into her eager mouth... Getting an idea, she didn't swallow her prize. Instead, she waited for her mouth to get full, before letting his cock out and getting the rest of spunk land onto her face and breasts in such an erotic fashion... Once he finished cumming,Mei gently pulled Kagerou, who was still making out with their lover, by her hair and then smashed their lips together, forcing Naruto's seed into surprised girl's mouth with her tongue...

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki could find no words how hot the girls looked as Mei was snowball-ing the Fuuma kunoichi first, and then had her lick his cum from her face and chest, before the two were lip-locked again, sharing his seed once more...

"Wasn't this delicious?" The red-haired Kage asked looking into the other girl's eyes once they broke the kiss. "It's your turn now." She said sweetly as she guided Kagerou's mouth to Naruto's once again rock-hard erection. The green-haired beauty took his cock into her mouth timidly, her eyes locked on Mei's, and gently ran her tongue 'round his head. At redhead's nod, Kagerou grew a bit more confident and wrapped her lips tightly around his meat pole and started sucking it, lightly at first, but soon she was bobbing her head like an experienced slut... Now sure that the girl will take a good care of her lover, Mei pulled his fingers that had brought her to two delightful orgasms out of her welcoming pussy and moved her her crotch to over his face. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki wasted no time and sent his tongue to explore her wet core as he licked her sweet juices, while the redhead was tasting those as well as she was sucking on the digits she had been fingered with...

Under the care of his well-trained tongue, it didn't take too long for the red-haired kunoichi to reach her orgasmic high again. And while Kagerou was still working on getting another doze of blond's cum, Mei was lazily rubbing her pussy against her lover's face, while he was licking her sweet nether lip at an unhurried pace, slowly working the redhead to her fourth climax.

As the green-haired girl was getting him closer to his release, Naruto freed his right had from his red-haired lover's grasp and using it as well as his other had, spread her buttocks, completely revealing her pinkish pretty rosebud to the world, and once he started cumming into Kagerou's delightful mouth, he pushed the two of his fingers into, Mei's tight ass, sending her over the edge as well...

For a couple of minutes, even after the Fuuma girl finished drinking her white prize – which she didn't share with the red-haired Kage, not a single drop – the three of them remained as they were, gathering their strength for the next round... Mei, of course, acted first and claimed her lover's cock as she took it into her delightfully tight and wet pussy, while having Kagerou lick both her clit and nether lips and whatever part of Naruto's cock wasn't inside her. With the curious tongue working on their sexes, neither of the two lasted long before reaching their respective orgasms... Sliding completely out of his red-haired lover, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki watched the Fuuma girl lick the mixture of their cum out of Mei's snatch, quickly regaining his hard on from the show the girls had put on. ...Once Kagerou finished cleaning her 'mistress', the said redhead tried to make the girl do some other 'dirty work' while she herself was to enjoy another incredible ride on her lover's cock. Naruto, though, had some other plans...

"No, no, no, Mei-chan, you should show some more hospitality to our dear guest." He said, before pulling her lower body back a bit roughly, making her land on the bed with her face inches away from Kagerou's glistening with juices pussy. Getting from underneath his red-haired lover, Naruto positioned himself behind her raised into the air butt and completely sheathed his cock into her ass in a single motion. He pulled a half of his length out of her a couple of seconds later. "Lick." He ordered, while making a powerful thrust, almost pushing Mei's face into green-haired beauty's pussy. Shrugging mentally, the redhead stuck her tongue out and ran it along other girl's nether lips a couple of times before sending it into her tight love channel for more sweet nectar to drink as Naruto was fucking her ass hard and fast.

* * *

...Some time later the three lovers were lying on the bed in a tangle of sweaty bodies as they were recovering from their mind-blowing orgasms...

"Wow." Kagerou said weakly. "This add a whole new dimension to the word love." The red-haired kunoichi raised herself on her elbows to into the other girl's eyes, while Naruto disentangled himself from the two beauties and smirked 'evilly'. Almost as if she was reading his mind, Mei smirked as well, though, hers was more of an anticipation of something incredibly pleasurable...

"Who said that we're finished?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki asked, while forming a handseal for the **kage bunshin no jutsu**...

**~/ *** \~**

Another ten days of research later, Naruto managed to create an array for the solid 'soulless' bunshin and make it able to take some punishment before dispelling. Of course, before he actually used the said array, there was no way to be sure that it worked like he intended it to, or whether it worked at all... So some experiments were in order...

Arriving to the big clearing on the training ground seventeen that Mei had given to him for today, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki created a barrier that would contain the 'results' of his experiments, should they turn out to be not what he had thought they would be... Creating a normal shadow clone, he sent it inside the barrier and commanded it to perform the 'technique'.

The clone flashed through a sequence of handseals – far longer than for any other type of bunshin he knew of – before slamming his palms against the ground as if he was trying to perform **kuchiyose no jutsu**... There was a poof of white smoke, and another doppelganger of him appeared. But since it had no soul – at least he got this part right – it couldn't stand on its own and almost immediately collapsed onto the ground... The new clone survived the fall.

Using the standard sign language of the Hidden Mist, Naruto ordered his shadow clone to start the tests on the durability of his soulless clone. **Kage bunshin** nodded to show that it understood its task, and then kicked the clone on the ground with the strength of an average civilian... Naruto could almost see the strain of the chakra construct as it tried to maintain itself. And it did, even if barely: the 'soulless clone' survived the damage that would have destroyed normal shadow clone... His shadow clone made another kick, this one being more powerful, and dispelled the 'experiment'.

"I see..." Naruto said under his breath. Of course, he should have performed another set of experiments to determine durability of his 'experiment' against something other than simple blunt damage, but... '_Pure-chakra constructs can't take a lot of damage even with the reinforcement arrays added to it. I need to use a medium-based clone if I want a body that can take some punishment for Akasha to use._' He though. '_But what the medium should be? I must not have weaknesses against any particular elements, and it must be readily available anywhere..._' Shaking his thoughts about the vampiress, the red-eyed blond tried to think of something... Then it hit him: blood. It was the medium that he needed. He just needed to find a way to create a working and soulless blood clone. '_Oh well..._' Dispelling his shadow clone and deactivating the barrier, Naruto **shunshin**'ed to Mei's office to inform her had he was done with using the training field for today...

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That's all, folks!  
**Read** and **Review**!


	16. Summonning the vampiress

Hello, everyone, here's the newest chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story! Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**miner249er**, **jafr86**, **Naginator**, **Umbra8191**, **fanficreader71**, **sh8ad8ow**, **ShadowCub**, **griffin blackwood**, **Still Not Dead Yet**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **puma1sunfire**, **Illusions11**, thank you for your reviews, folks!  
**Wyrtha**, maybe later, along with Mei-Akasha 'encounter'.  
**BowTechsniper**, not sure about the sequel. I might write it at the later date, but in my mind the story is complete at the chapter 17 (19 by the local counter). Oh well... maybe I'll write a sequel, indeed...  
**Rixxell Stryfe**, too... many... letters... heh, thanks for your ...detailed review. It was really appreciated.  
**warriorx559**, the seven swordsmen will be: Choujirou, Hitagi, Aoba (from chapter 7), three OC's and ... not telling. + Naruto as unofficial eighth member.  
**Sandaime Hokage**, real action is soon to come back into the story.  
**Goldrune09**, one can always hope. *wink*

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**Fuuton: reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - A powerful gust of wind. Can be used to accelerate thrown projectiles.  
**Fuuton: atsugai** - (B-rank) Wind style: pressure damage - This jutsu creates devasting wind blast.  
**Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - A strong gust of wind. Can be used to empower fire jutsu.  
**Ura shishou** - (unknown rank, possibly S) Reverse four image seal - Upon activation, sucks everything within certain radius into the seal and seals it away permanently.  
**Fuuton: shinkuu gyoku** - (?-rank) Wind style: vacuum sphere - User expels multiple penetrating wind bullets.  
**Hiraishin** - (S-rank) Flying thunder god - Teleportation to the marked place from any distance. Yondaime Hokage's signature jutsu.  
**Shunshin no jutsu** - (D-rank) Body flicker technique - Moderate distance 'teleportation'.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

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_This chapter is not beta-read.  
_

* * *

**chapter 14: Summoning the vampiress**

Changing the existing blood clones into soulless ones proved to be much harder than doing the same with the shadow clones... So another three weeks later the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was ready to test the new 'doppelganger'. Mei, of course, got him a secluded training ground for the whole day for that purpose, and the blond was really thankful for that.

Unfortunately for Naruto, blood clones couldn't be created by **kage bunshin**, so he had to conduct the test personally. At least the creation part... Hoping that this all would not blow up into his face – literally – the red-eyed blond made a cut on his finger and let several drops of blood to trickle onto his palm, before closing the wound with the brief application of Kyuubi's yoki. doing the necessary handseals with his other hand, he let the blood he 'collected' shift, creating something that loosely resembled human standing next to him. Pushing more chakra into the construct, Naruto finally managed to turn it into a clone... Since the thing had no 'soul', it couldn't stand properly, and collapsed into a heap on the ground as soon as its creation was complete. At least it didn't explode or anything...

Jumping away, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki summoned single **kage bunshin** to conduct his experiments, before activating the barrier. Once everything was ready, he commanded his doppelganger to begin, using sign language. The clone nodded and kicked the 'body' on the ground lightly. It didn't break down or dispel. A stronger kick – enough to break a finger – yielded pretty much the same result. But more powerful kick, the one that would break one's hand, did enough damage to cause the body to break down, canceling the jutsu.

'_So this version really can take some more damage, even though one good taijutsu attack still would end the technique._' The blond swordsman observed. '_Let's see how good it will hold against cutting and piercing attacks..._' So, deactivating the barrier, Naruto walked up to where his clone was standing. Repeating the blood clone creation procedure, the blond jinchuuriki told his shadow clone to use kunai this time, and some instructions about where and how to try cutting the soulless 'body'. Once he was finished, Naruto returned to his observation spot outside the barrier and reactivated it. Giving his shadow clone the command, the red-eyed swordsman watched the next experiment...

The reinforced blood clone could survive some minor cuts and scratches, it appeared. But anything more than that destroyed it. Same was true for the jutsu (at least those that Naruto knew): anything that dealt some real damage dispelled the clone... And while he had not tested how long the clone could exist – that would take too much time – the theory said that it won't dispel on its own for hours if not days... Once he had finished with his tests for the day, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki summoned Akasha into his subconscious and 'fed' her his memories, regarding what could be her body in the real world.

"**It's a bit too fragile – I was so much more durable when I was alive – but I don't think I should expect anything better than this for the time being, so it'll do for now.**" The vampiress said, once she finished sorting through the memories of her 'master'.

"Then I should start adding the arrays to tie your conscious to the clone." Naruto said, nodding to himself. "But I promise that I'll try creating something more durable for you." Akasha smiled.

"**Don't worry, though, I won't be easy to hit if that body is half as fast as my original one... And if anything, I can always switch to supporting you with my runic seals from a distance, instead of being next to you in the middle of the battlefield.**" The blond nodded again, agreeing with her judgment. She smirked then, before wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pressing her corset-covered breasts into his chest. "**Now, I really want to thank you for your efforts, but I think we should wait till you're home.**" She cooed. Seeing a small trickle of blood escaping his nose, the vampiress quickly licked it, before kissing her 'master' on his lips lightly. Then she let him go out of her embrace – otherwise they might have ended doing _it_ right here and now, which wouldn't be a good idea since he needed to concentrate on the real world right now...

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto was approaching Tsukiwa village that was located on the far north-west of the Water country. As this village was so far away from Kiri, during the bloodline purges pirates and other thugs made it their base and their own little country, seriously interfering with the trading routes, both sea and not, that came close to the village... Thus Mei sent him to deal with the problem (it would also send a message to the other nations that Hidden Mist was back and still was strong).

'Unfortunately' for the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, the outlaws that inhabited the village didn't want to leave the place willingly – the red-eyes swordsman had already eliminated three outposts, and he was yet to even see the village itself. At least a dozen of thugs was no where near enough to make him, an S-rank ninja, go serious... Naruto sighed: because of this mission he had to put on hold his research into Akasha's 'summon' body for at least a week.

Suddenly saw an arrow flying towards his head. Another outpost... Snatching the projectile out of the air, the blond ninja took an overpowered explosive tag out his pouch and attached in to the arrow, before throwing it back to where it came from, using **fuuton: reppushou** jutsu to be sure that it reached its target... Ten seconds later he activated the explosive tag, and a huge fireball appeared somewhere in the trees. Judging by the wooden debris that was flying in all directions he had just destroyed some sort of a tree-house which was used as the outpost. And with the height at which the explosion occurred, Naruto was positive that no thugs that survived it were in any shape to fight him. So, instead of finishing them himself, he summoned a single **kage bunshin** to off the bastards, while he himself continued walking the road leading to the village.

...Another hour of walking later, after almost four days of nonstop walking from Kiri, Naruto finally could Tsukiwa village gates. Those gates were locked, and, judging by their appearance, heavily barricaded: the outlaws really didn't want to lose this base of theirs. But those barricades were nothing for Naruto, or any other powerful shinobi... Almost lazily, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki made a few handseals:

"**Fuuton: atsugai!**" A powerful ball of compressed wind hit the gates, before exploding with enough power to damage the construction and completely destroy the bolts. Still the attack wasn't enough to clear the entrance for the red-eyed swordsman. Shrugging, he sent another wind jutsu, **fuuton: daitoppa** this time. The technique tore through the damaged gates and the barricade behind them, opening the way for Naruto to enter the village though the 'front door'. Of course, there already was a large group of bandits and pirates waiting for him with their weapons drawn.

"Just a single man?" One of the thugs asked. "Are all shinobi so arrogant that they think they are so superior to us?" Another outlaw standing next to him, though, wasn't as sure about which side of the conflict had an advantage – the basic samurai training he had received was telling the man that the ninja at the gates was not someone, whom they could overwhelm with their numbers easily, if at all... Suddenly, the man remembered where he saw the image of their opponent – about a year ago Kiri had issued a bingo book where a ninja of very similar appearance was listed as an S-rank. And that ninja was named by the moniker 'the Genocide'...

"Um... Not to sound pessimistic, but, guys, we're facing 'the Genocide'..." The samurai-trained thug whispered, though others paid him no mind, as they still thought they could beat the cloaked swordsman easily.

"Let's kill the bastard!" The third bandit yelled, and the rest of the outlaws vocally agreed with him. Then the whole little 'army' charged at Naruto, who didn't seem to be fazed by this at all. Once the thug platoon got close enough to him, he flickered out of existence, while a tag with **ura shishou** seal went off where he was standing a moment later... The black sphere had sucked in most of the outlaws, bar the few that were lucky to be far away from the ground zero.

"**Fuuton: shinkuu gyoku!**" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki, who had reappeared on the 'battlefield' called, before exhaling a number of wind bullets, aiming to destroy the rest of the thugs with this attack. Those few that were still alive and able to fight, rushed towards the red-eyed ninja, only to die at the end of his sword. "What a mess..." Naruto sighed, as he observed the 'battlefield'. "**Kage bunshin!**" A group of shadow clones appeared, already 'instructed' to put those still alive out of their misery, and then dispose the bodies.

He was not stupid enough to think that his work was done here: there should be more outlaws in the village, and if not, there might be slaves that needed to be freed... So once his clones were done with the survivors of this little skirmish, he commanded all of them but one to spread and search the village, while he himself headed straight to the docks, creating chakra pulses from to time to scan the area for more targets... But so far it looked like everyone was in a different parts of the village. Oh well, it's not like they could escape through the gates without him (or his clone) noticing that.

On his way to the docks, Naruto faced two more small groups of the bandits or pirates – he didn't care which they were as his mission was to eliminate anyone who wasn't a civilian or a slave to the outlaws – but they weren't even given a chance to shout that he was there, before their lives ended at the edge of his sword... Finally he reached the piers. There were four ships (average in size) moored there, all of them with 'Jolly Rogers'. There were several drunk pirates sleeping here and there as well, but the Kyuubi jinchuuriki decided to have his clone to deal with them: he himself needed to check the ships for anyone who needed to be saved. Or for the goods that could be of any use to Kiri...

As he approached the nearest ship, Naruto drew Akasha and making her sharper with the application of wind chakra, cut himself an entrance through the side of the ship. Once inside, using chakra pulse, he determined that there were only pirates on board. And they will sink along with their ship... As for the goods, there was some food and some water, some rope and some metal, but nothing really valuable or useful for the Hidden village. Shrugging, the blond swordsman placed a good dozen of overpowered explosive tags around the hold, before exiting the ship: the 'fireworks' will be later.

The second ship – it was the biggest one there – proved to have quite an interesting cargo... The ship belonged to the slave ring and was already freighted with the slaves, five men in per cage. Naruto simply ripped these cages open – chakra enhanced muscles were more than enough for that – and told the freed men to go hide somewhere in warehouses: the village wasn't safe for them yet... Once the last slave left the ship, Naruto looted the gold he could find, before mining the ship with more of his explosive tags... The final two ships were useful in having more ryo and some quality steel for the Kyuubi jinchuuriki to loot for Kiri. After they all were mined, he moved to the safe position some distance away from the piers.  
"Firework time!" The blond whispered, before activating the explosive tags. Almost instantly four fireballs tore the pirate ships into tiny pieces. There should have been no chance that any of the outlaws on board survived, but knowing how the things were in this world, Naruto still sent a shadow clone to confirm that there were no survivors among the pirates.

Almost at the same time with this clone, the **kage bunshin** that he created earlier, dispelled. Sorting through the memory feedback, Naruto was satisfied with the results: the outlaws in the village were killed, while about three dozens of slaves were freed from the slave ring base (which was located in majors residence). With his mission complete, the blond swordsman told the slaves he had freed that they were free to go wherever they wanted, before he himself left: he wasn't a hero there, he was just doing his job. And with his job done, he wanted nothing more than to return to his home and continue his work on the body for his Akasha...

**~/ *** \~**

Four more weeks (and another pirate offing mission) later Naruto thought that he had successfully added the 'soul binding' aspect into the blood clone he intended to be Akasha's body... Also using some of his information gathering skills the blond swordsman found some rumors about sages of old times – warriors who could use energies of the world around them to make their bodies stronger and more durable, and to increase the power of their attacks. But even though the idea was enticing, he decided not to implement it this time – he had done far too much to start everything over. But the second version of Akasha's body will definitely be powered by natural energies, he decided... But for now he needed to test the 'first version'. Just in case he was going to use psycho-matrix that normally was a sol of a shadow clone, instead of Akasha's spirit, until he was sure that the process of being summoned into a physical body is safe for her...

Mei, like she did the previous two times, gave him a rarely used training grounds for his tests, and Naruto wasted no time there, starting his experiments early in the morning, just after the sunrise... Once he was there, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki set up the base for the barrier technique, should something unlikely happen and thing will go wrong. That done, the blond started doing the handseals to create the blood clone – the sequence was longer than the 'final version' would be as he had to add a part that would create a psycho-matrix for the clone's soul from his own conscious... As soon as he had completed the last handseal, he pressed his bloodied palm to the ground and willed a body to form. A couple of seconds later a doppelganger was standing there, looking at its creator.

"It seems that this works." The clone said, as it inspected itself, noting that the technique worked quite well and copied everything that was either Naruto himself or was on him (except for Akasha, obviously – in her place was just a normal sword of exactly same shape).

"Let's see, what you can do." The red-eyed swordsman said, before telling the clone to go through some katas first. One he was sure that the clone was able to fight hand to hand and with a sword – not on his level though, as he was faster and stronger, not to mention able to take a good hit – the Kyuubi jinchuuriki had the blood clone try performing ninjutsu and some simple fuuinjutsu: with the amount of chakra he had given to it, the clone will still have some left once it was finished with the 'exercises'...

The clone performed adequately, according to Naruto. So, the blond swordsman surmised, the jutsu was working quite well so far. But there was one thing that he hadn't tried yet today – dispelling. Once it received this order, the clone made a handseal that was reserved for dispelling, and its body ceased o exist, falling apart into red mist that quickly disappeared... Naruto himself received the memories of the clone's short life, meaning that the soul transfer was working correctly, at least for voluntary dispelling.

Summoning the blood clone again, Naruto, as soon as he was sure that the transfer of his psycho-matrix into it was as successful as it was the last time, stabbed the clone through its head with a kunai, dispelling it... A moment later he had received a memories of clone's extremely short 'life'.

'_Heh, it works._' He thought. Then, summoning Akasha into the world of his subconscious, he shared the memories of today's experiments with her. "What do you think? Should we try summoning you into the real world today?"

"**No, this technique takes quite a lot out of you, Naru-chan.**" The vampiress replied. "**You should rest tonight. I'll wait till tomorrow, no problems there.**" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki nodded: creating a blood clone indeed took almost quarter of his more than just impressive chakra reserves. '_**And once you give me the body, I'll thank you properly, master.**_' Akasha added in her thoughts, while unconsciously licking her lips. Naruto somehow seemed to understand what she was planning, but shrugged at it: it was not like the redhead hadn't _thanked_ him before...

**~/ *** \~**

The next day Naruto allowed himself to sleep in a bit – even though, thanks to his vampiress, he didn't really need it, he enjoyed sleeping, especially with his lover's naked body next to his... Anyway, once he woke up and completed his morning rituals, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki went to one of the secluded glades he had found some time ago in the forests next to Kiri. There, he summoned Akasha into his subconscious.

'_Shall we begin now?_' He asked the redhead, receiving a mental nod in response.

'_**Very well.**_' Nodding himself, he made a cut on his finger to get the blood needed for the jutsu, and went through the handseals, before pressing his bloodied palm against the ground, while calling forth Akasha's spirit into the forming body... The jutsu was a success as several seconds later the vampiress was standing in front of him. Like always, her hair was made into a ponytail and her clothes consisted of leather corset and short shorts, dark stockings and her 'multi-purpose' shoes... Of course despite her appearance of a seductress, Akasha was just as dangerous in an all-out fight – at least she would be in her real body, as this one wasn't tested like that yet.

"Looking good, Akasha-chan." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said with a whistle, making the vampiress smile.

"**Thank you, master.**" She replied, before asking: "**Mind if I have a bite?**" At his nod, she removed his hood and gently bit the side of his neck and sucked some of his delicious blood. Stopping herself before she took too much from him, she licked the 'wound' clean, before kissing him passionately as a 'thank you', which turned into a good snog for them. Once they stopped making out, she did a step back: "**Now, let's see, what I can do with this body.**" Walking up to the nearest tree – which was at least a meter in diameter – she punched it, making a large dent in the trunk. Another punch later the tree snapped and fell on the ground. "**I'm so-o weak...**" Akasha said with a frown. At Naruto's questioning look, she elaborated: "**In my original body I'd have blown a hole through this tree with the first punch.**" The blond swordsman immediately made a mental note not to piss her off, when she could attack him physically...

"And about the rest of your abilities?" He asked then. ...And so Akasha experimented with the limits of her temporary body – her speed, her agility, her reflexes, her ability to cast runic seals... And, unfortunately one great limit was soon found: she was bounded by the amount of energy Naruto gave her the moment her body was created – she couldn't spend more than that, obviously, and a lot of her techniques required quite some yoki, and even more, if human chakra was used instead... So Naruto had to re-summon her twice for her to test all of her battle sealing skills she deemed important for them. And with the strain it put on his chakra reserves, the tests lasted till well after the midday – the red-eyed blond needed some time to recover his chakra, after all...

* * *

Naruto was sitting under a tree, absentmindedly watching his vampiress going through the incredible arsenal of battle seals she had, while deep in his thoughts... He was actually so out of contact with the reality the he didn't notice when Akasha had ended her 'tests' and approached him. Her sitting in his lap he did notice, though. Looking at the redhead, he raised his eyebrow, wanting to know what she wanted. In response, she leaned forward and whispered into his ear seductively:

"**It's time for me to thank you for my body, master.**" Her voice alone was enough to tell his body what the vampiress was expecting of it, and it was all too glad to comply, ignoring what blond's mind was telling about this being not the best place for _that_. Of course, it was also clear to Naruto that Akasha will not take 'no' for an answer, especially with the way she was rubbing her clothed crotch against the growing bulge in his pants.

"Just once." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki gave an ultimatum that made the vampiress pout. But seeing that this had no effect on him, Akasha grudgingly gave in.

"**OK.**" She quickly undid her corset, letting her incredible breasts out of their confines, before presenting them to her 'master'. The blond wasted no time and started sucking on one of his lover's tits, making her moan from the sensation... Meanwhile, the redhead somehow found her way out of her shorts without leaving his lap, and was currently fighting with his belt. Naruto decided to give her a hand there and soon he had his pants and boxers pulled down by the eager vampiress. "**A-ah!**" She cried out in pleasure as her lover's moan, caused by their bare sexes rubbing together, vibrated through her breast... ...A minute later, deciding that they had enough of the 'foreplay', Akasha leaned backwards, pulling her delicious breasts away from him, and wrapped her hand around his now slick erection and gave him a couple of strokes – for which she was rewarded with more of his moans of pleasure – before guiding his cock into her wet and eager pussy.

"You're so tight, Akasha-chan." The blond breathed out once he was completely sheathed in her. The vampiress smirked at him, before leaning forward again, allowing him to bath her other breast with his attention. Then she started riding him, slowly at first, but increasing the tempo more and more as they fucked... Sensing her orgasm approaching, Naruto gently bit her nipple, sending her over the edge.

"**A-a-ah!**" The red-haired vampiress cried out loudly in pleasure as her pussy became deliciously tight around her 'master's' cock. Yet she didn't stop moving on his pole, barely slowed down actually, once again showing that she was just as much of a succubus as she was a vampire. Not by blood, of course... With how enthusiastic Akasha was today, Naruto soon found himself approaching his own orgasm and, removing his mouth from her tit – making her moan in disappointment from the loss of sensation – he sealed her lips with his, while pushing two of his fingers into her tight ass as he sending rope after rope of his cum into her womb, sending her to the whole new level of pleasure...

"It was fantastic..." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said in a whisper once the two lovers were back to the real world. Akasha, who was lying on his chest, nodded.

"**Indeed.**" She raised herself into sitting position and looked into his eyes. "**Now, let's get dressed and go home, eh?**" Sensing a question that he was about to ask, she said: "**This is the first time I'm in the real world in a lo-ong time, do you really think that I'm ready to return to the sword yet?**" Naruto nodded in understanding, before gently lifting her off his lap, so that he could fix his clothes. The vampiress moaned quietly at the loss of the contact, but quickly recomposed herself and started putting her shorts and corset back on... Naruto, though, wasn't really sure that her 'attire' wasn't too provocative – she was going into the village, after all – so he gave her his cloak, which she gladly accepted...

**~/ *** \~**

Today Mei managed to defeat the mountains of paperwork a couple of hours earlier than she usually did – why again did she agree to become Mizukage? – so she home earlier than usual as well. Only to find that Naruto wasn't there. She didn't let it bother her much, though, as he was most likely somewhere training his ass off, or, maybe he was with Kagerou...

Yes, Mei was possessive of her blond lover, very much so, but the green-haired kunoichi of the Fuuma clan was allowed to have so Naruto-time after their _talk_... mostly because the red-haired Kage had established that she was the female alpha, and had Kagerou agree to do her _favors_ from time to time...

Right now Mei was thinking that, maybe, she should cook some dinner for them tonight, when Naruto finally returned home:

"I'm home, Mei-chan!" He announced from the doorstep. She was ready to give him a _very warm_ welcome, when she heard another voice. Female voice.

"**You have a nice home, Naru-chan.**" Now Mei was seeing red: who was that girl that was trying to steal what was hers? Moving so fast that one would think she had learned (in)famous **hiraishin**, she moved to the front door... Indeed, there was a girl, about the same age as her, with red hair made into a ponytail, wearing rather skimpy clothes underneath her Naruto's cloak. And this girl was hanging on her Naruto's hand.

"Who's she?" The Fifth Mizukage hissed angrily, while glaring at her blond lover... The Kyuubi jinchuuriki let out a barely audible sigh, while silently cursing his luck.

"Mei-chan... Let me introduce Akasha Bloodriver. You may know her as the spirit of my sword." He said. Unfortunately for him, this wasn't enough of the explanation for Mei, as she continued glaring at him... Deciding that he didn't want to die just yet, the blond swordsman decided to flee. "Why don't you have some bonding, girls, eh?" He said, before using **shunshin** to get as far away from the two as he could...

* * *

A little more than an hour later Naruto decided that he gave them enough time to cool down. Them, because he was yet to feel Akasha returning to the sword, meaning that she was still in her 'body' out there... He cautiously approached the door of the apartment he and Mei shared, and found it not locked. Hopefully, this was a good sign.

Entering the apartment, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki could see a signs that there was a fight between the girl, but what was worrying him more was the fact that all the damage done was repaired and neither redhead was seen or heard. They _were_ planning something for him... Deciding that he should face whatever they had in store for him sooner than later, the red-eyed blond started looking for the girls. The kitchen was empty... As were the living room and the bathroom. This meant that they were in the bedroom...

Forcing his thoughts about hot girl on girl action out of his mind and silently praying that they weren't going to murder him, he pushed the door open... Only to find both redheads lying on the bed. Mei just in her black lacy panties while Akasha had her leather shorts and stockings on. And Akasha was lying on top of Mei, with their breasts pressed together, while Mei's hands rested on the other redhead's firm buttocks...

"**Naru-chan, it's not good to keep your ladies waiting.**" The vampiress playfully scolded him, while inviting him to join them with her finger...

* * *

That's all, folks!  
**Read** and **Review**!


	17. Uzumaki blood

Hello, everyone, here's the newest chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story! Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**griffin blackwood**, **miner249er**, **karthik9**, **BowTechsniper**, **ScrimjaNinja**, **sh8ad8ow**, **fanficreader71**, **ddcj1990**,** nobother**, **EternalKnight219**, **warriorx559**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **Andrew MacKenzie**, **Umbra8191**, **ogihcI ikasoruK**, **Tristan76**, **HolyKnight5**, **LbcLostKid**, **Still Not Dead Yet**, **puma1sunfire**, **Junky**, **Sandaime Hokage**, thank you for your reviews, folks!  
**Rixxell Stryfe**, my Naruto is NOT the canon one, so he CAN think two steps ahead. =)  
**The Fanfic Stealer**, yes. And thank you.  
*gives a napkin to **xxxkingnarutoxxx**.*  
**TheDemonKingNaruto**, Akasha is (technically) a chakra construct, she can't get pregnant.  
**Shinsou Tengen Wabisuke**, hehehe.

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Shunshin no jutsu** - (D-rank) Body flicker technique - 'teleportation' technique for the short distances  
**Raiton no yoroi** - (unknown rank) Lightning armor - Raikage covers his body with lightning chakra, increasing his defense, speed and reaction time. This lightning armor also deals extra damage with the element. Wind jutsus are its weakness, though.

*** Author's note**: The lemon in this chapter is most likely the last for this story.

******* AND**: my faithful readers, I thank you for 600+ reviews, 60+ communities and 1000+ favorites!

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

* * *

_This chapter is not beta-read.  
_

* * *

**chapter 15: Uzumaki blood**

It was a week since Naruto first summoned Akasha into the real world, and the vampiress tried to get as much time outside as she could. So right now, the demonic redhead was sharing the bed with her 'master' and his (other) red-haired mate, just like they did on _that_ night...

Waking up first, the vampiress decided that it was her 'duty' to wake her lovers up, and eying Naruto's morning wood, she just knew how she should do that. Slithering out of his embrace, Akasha brought herself down to his erection, and rubbed it against her cheek. Then she ran her tongue from the base of his cock to its tip and back, getting a sleepy moan from the blond shinobi. Giving him a couple of long licks more, the redhead took the head of her 'master's' cock into her mouth and sucked on it lightly, while bringing her left hand to play with his sack lightly... As she continued blowing him off, slowly taking more and more of his length into her mouth, she felt his pulse change, indicating that Naruto woke up, but was 'playing dead'. Deciding that things shouldn't be like that, Akasha took most of the cock out of her mouth, leaving only the tip in, and gently ran her teeth over it, causing her 'master' to moan loudly and open his eyes, revealing that he was indeed awake.

"**Good morning, Naru-chan.**" The vampiress said, before swallowing his member again, this time going straight to deep-throating him, while her hand moved from playing with his balls to teasing (still sleeping) Mei's pussy, making the red-haired Kage moan cutely and press her voluptuous body against Naruto's... Getting the 'hint', the Kyuubi jinchuuriki moved the hand he was hugging Mei down against her body, till it was resting on her firm buttocks and started massaging her rear... As the vampiress continued sucking him, the red-eyed blond noticed that she was getting closer and closer to fingering Mei's wet and eager pussy, and so, with a devious smirk appearing on his face for a moment, he switched to rubbing the sleeping redhead's crack and, especially, over her cute tight asshole... As Akasha was bringing him closer and closer to his release, his fingers continued 'homing' onto Mei's anus, and the moment the vampiress finally brought him over the edge, he finally inserted his digits into the redhead's tight ass, while Akasha did the same for her pussy, causing the red-haired Kage to wake up into a powerful orgasm.

"A-a-a-ah!" Mei cried out as she was assaulted by the waves of pleasure from being double-penetrated by her lovers' fingers that were moving in and out of her holes... Meanwhile Akasha got her mouthful of Naruto's cum, but instead of swallowing her prize, the vampiress slid up against his body, till she was on the same level with Mei, and kissed the other redhead, sharing her 'master's' cum in a hot make out session...

"**And good morning you too, Mei-chan.**" Akasha greeted the other redhead, getting something unintelligible in response, as the girl was riding another orgasm from having her lovers' fingers working their magic inside her... Once they finally stopped fingering Mei and allowed her to come back, the dazed redhead rolled on top of Naruto, placing her craving for _the_ cock pussy against his rock-hard erection. With some help from Akasha, the red-haired Kage had his shaft where it belonged, and started slowly riding it, while the vampiress moved to sit on blond shinobi's face, having him lick her juicy snatch as she was once more making out with Mei, while playing with her tits...

...The red-haired Kage was the first one to orgasm with her pussy flowing like a river around his cock with her honey as filled her womb with a load of his hot thick cum. Akasha lasted a bit longer, but soon she too reached her climax, covering Naruto's face with her sweet juices...

Knowing her 'master's' plans somewhat, the red-haired vampiress, once she was back from her orgasmic high, gave each of her two lovers a thorough kissing, before dismissing her body into a reddish mist that quickly dissipated into nothing, leaving Mei and Naruto alone for their 'important' talk... The Kyuubi jinchuuriki wasn't braking the idyl of having his busty red-haired lover snuggling into his side just yet... Still, with Mei having to go to her office soon, the blond swordsman eventually broke the comfortable silence that surrounded the two:

"Mei-chan?" Naruto whispered, getting his mate's attention. She lazily raised her head from his chest to look into his eyes.

"Mm?" The redhead moaned. "What's it, Naru-chan?"

"I want to leave Kiri for a while. There is a place I want to visit now that my life is more or less stable." He said after a small pause. "Don't worry, I'll definitely be back to you..." He reassured _his_ Mei-chan. "You are the only ones for me." His lover tilted her head a bit, still looking in his eyes.

"Do you really have to go, Naru-chan?" The red-haired Kage asked as she finally joined him in the kitchen for some breakfast. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki nodded.

"Yes, Mei-chan I want to. There might be the only living link to my family, to my clan. I know that most of the Uzumaki were killed during the second great war, and those that had escaped death, scattered throughout the world and seemed to disappear. Yet I know that there is someone who shares Uzumaki blood. I wish to meet with them." Mei nodded slowly, understanding his desire to reconnect to the (possibly) last remaining of his clan. It didn't mean that wanted him to go...

"And where they would be? Where are you going, Naru-chan?" She asked then.

"Kumo." Naruto answered truthfully. I know that there are some here: the man who told me this had no reason to lie..." For a couple of moments the blond wasn't sure whether he should add the next bit or not. In the end, though, he decided that he should. "He was my sensei for some time, and he another jinchuuriki. And a jinchuuriki that doesn't exactly like spending his time in the village, preferring solitude of his outing house instead." The redhead nodded, while filing this bit of information in her mind: her Naruto was trained by Kiraabi – the other jinchuuriki Kumo had was a female.

"Kumo, you say..." Mei said after a pause. "Now Kiri is more or less back to its feet, even though we're the weakest of the five at the moment, and it's time for us to start forming alliances. Forming one with the Hidden Cloud would be mutually beneficial: we get a powerful ally, and they get access to the better trading routes, which come close to our territory." The redhead said. "If you will wait for a couple of days, I will let you go as an emissary – all you'll have to do will be delivering the drafts of the documents to the Raikage." Naruto nodded: while he wasn't a Kiri ninja, the Hidden Mist became his home, and would make sure that this home stands strong...

**~/ *** \~**

Late in the morning three days later – and after a long and hot session of 'goodbye' sex last night with Mei and Kagerou, Naruto left the Kiri, carrying a package of documents for the Raikage (sealed in one of his scrolls, of course). For now he was heading west, and from there he'll take a ship to the northern parts of the Fire country. As much as he didn't want to go there, this route was so much shorter than the one he had used to escape Water country all those years ago...

He reached the western port in the Water country without incidents – pretty much everyone here knew that he was not someone you wished to fight, and the various bandits and low-level missing-nins that weren't cleansed from the land yet avoided him like a plague... Finding a captain willing to take him to the continent wasn't hard too, so Naruto left the Water country with the first ship to departure. Unfortunately, there was a storm not far from the island where Uzushio ruins were – Naruto intended to visit them soon – and the captain of the ship decided to sail closer to the Wave country. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but a certain businessman not long ago decoded to place a blockade around the isles...

* * *

One morning Naruto woke up to the sounds of people arguing on the deck – pretty much above him – and decided to find out what was going on. Quickly putting his clothes on, he **shunshin**'ed away from his cabin, reappearing seating on the main mast some three meters above the deck. From his position he could see the captain and several more imposing members of the crew arguing with a gang of thugs about not paying a ridiculous amount of money to Gatou simply for sailing there... Deciding that he had seen and heard enough, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki jumped off the mast, landing right behind one of the thugs, simultaneously knocking him off with a quick chop to the neck.

"Leave." The blond swordsman said, addressing to the rest of the thugs, while throwing they unconscious comrade into one of them. "And tell you boss that he doesn't want attacking ships that are protected by the Hidden Mist."

"Who are you punk to tell us what to do?" One of the more stupid thugs shouted, while charging at Naruto with a katana in his hands. Next moment the red-eyed blond was standing behind him, while placing Akasha back into her place on his back. A fool that tried attacking him was now lying on the deck being split into two halves.

"Sorry for the mess, captain." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said dismissively. Then he turned to the rest of thugs. "Anybody else wants to try attacking me?" The whole gang (minus the unconscious member) shook their heads and disappeared from the deck with a speed that one would not expect from someone not trained to be a shinobi. "Hey, you forgot your garbage!" Naruto shouted to them, as he threw the cleaved body of his attacker towards the retreating thugs' boat. "Now, can we continue our voyage?" He asked. The captain simply nodded and ordered his crew to raise the sails...

* * *

Once he was standing on the solid ground again, Naruto bid farewell to the captain and headed towards the Kaminari no Kuni as fast as he could, not wanting to stay in the fire country for any longer than was absolutely necessary... It took the blond swordsman three days and nights to reach the borders of the Lightning country, and as soon as he crossed it, he could sense a group of ANBU (or whatever was the name of that group in Kumo) shadowing him. But that was kind of expected and he would be disappointed if he wasn't: only a fool wouldn't want to know what an S-rank ninja that wasn't there on his orders was doing on his territory... But since his 'shadows' weren't doing anything but following him, Naruto decided to pay them no mind.

Another day and a half later the Kyuubi jinchuuriki finally reached the massive walls that surrounded the Hidden Cloud village. There were two squads of ANBU guarding the gates, and the red-eyed blond could sense another four ready to act, should the things start getting out of control... Yes, Hidden Cloud was so far living up to its reputation of a highly-militarized village... And of course, the gate guards recognized him, at least by his moniker.

"Good evening, Genocide-san. What brings you to Kumogakure no Sato." One of the ANBU asked him politely – you were polite with someone stronger than you if you wanted to live another day, after all...

"Good evening." Naruto replied. "I'm here on a request from Godaime Mizukage with some documents for Raikage-dono. I'm also here on a personal business." The ANBU nodded, accepting his reasons.

"Documents please." He said. Nodding, the red-eyed blond gave him his passport. While he couldn't see this because of their masks, all of the ANBU raised their eyebrows at this. "No shinobi identification?" One of them finally asked.

"Officially, I'm a ronin, even if I do work for Mizukage-dono." Yes, ronins didn't have shinobi identifications as those were handed out by the Hidden villages to their ninja. Nodding the ANBU looked through Naruto's passport.

"Very well." He said, returning the document to its owner. "But since you are without shinobi identification, you will have to fill these forms." The ANBU said as several sheets of paper magically appeared in his hands. Naruto just nodded... Completing the paperwork turned out to be a chore far more mentally tiring than the blond expected – now he really understood why Mei-chan was always so tired when she returned home – and it took some time to properly fill all of the forms... So much, actually, that trying to get an audience with the Raikage today was now impossible. Instead, once he was finally let into the village, Naruto headed to the nearest hotel, deciding that his business can wait till tomorrow...

* * *

The next morning the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, after a quick breakfast at the hotel, headed straight to the Raikage tower – a large building in the center of the village that had its top floor almost constantly bathed in the clouds. Of course, Raikage's office was located near the top of the giant building (which towered over the rest of the houses in the area like Goliath would tower over David), so Naruto had to climb a lot of stairs before he reached the waiting area next to the office of village's leader. A chuunin that worked there checked his documents, making sure that he had had an audience scheduled – Naruto did, of course: the ANBU from the gates asked for that on his request, and as his business dealt with politics, it was approved by Raikage's secretary right away. Still, he had to stand in line, before it was his turn to meet with the leader of Kumo... Finally, almost an hour after arriving to the tower, Naruto was called into the Raikage's office...

The office was a large semi-circular room with an entire wall of windows. Somewhere near the center of the room there was a large table painted gray on which there were some documents that the Raikage was working with. Raikage himself was sitting in a leather armchair behind the table, his back to the windows... In front of the table, meaning closer to the door leading into the office, there was a big sofa of brown leather for the visitors. Finally, in the corner of the office there was a set of devices one would use for bodybuilding, complete with a barbell and a set of weights for it... Though a single look at the Raikage would explain why those were here: the man was huge, at least seven feet tall, and it seemed like his body consisted entirely of muscles, which made him look more like a wrestler than a shinobi... Actually even now the dark-skinned man had a dumb bell, which probably was as heavy as Naruto himself, in his left hand.

"Good morning, Raikage-dono." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki greeted the ruler of the Hidden Cloud village. The larger man nodded and offered his hand to Naruto. They shook hands then... with the Raikage applying a bit more strength that seemed necessary, but the blond ronin didn't wince, which made the Raikage smile a bit – it was obvious that the man respected those who were strong...

"Genocide-san, can I ask you to remove your hood?" The dark-skinned Kage asked, addressing Naruto by his moniker, even though he must also have been given the real name. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki nodded and did revealed his face. For a moment the Raikage stared at him, before a scowl appeared on his face. Somehow he stopped himself from attacking Naruto, even though the smaller blond could see that the Kumo leader wanted to do that. "Sorry, some bad blood with your look alike, the Yondaime Hokage." The blond ronin decided not to reveal that he was that man's son, or any talks about the alliance between Kumo and Kiri might be abortive.

"I see." Naruto replied instead. "Anyway, I'm here to deliver a set of documents regarding possible alliance between your village and Kirigakure no Sato." He said, while unsealing the scrolls that Mei-chan gave him. The man in front of him briefly scanned the documents, before setting them aside and pressing a button under his table. Several moments later a kunoichi, whom Naruto met on his way up the tower entered Raikage's office. The kunoichi was in her early twenties and was dressed in a dark-gray jacket and a knee-long skirt of the same color. She had a cocoa-colored skin and light-gray hair that was made into a bun.

"Mabui-chan,.." Naruto perked at hearing this name. "...Please send these to the analytics." The Raikage said as he passed the scrolls Naruto had given to him to the kunoichi. She nodded in response and was about to leave, but the Kyuubi jinchuuriki stopped her with his question:

"Mabui-san, can I ask you a question?" The kunoichi nodded slowly, not sure what kind of question to expect from the stranger in front of her. "Would your last name be 'Rakurai'?" Her eyes widened a bit, while Raikage behind her stiffened in his armchair... There was a pause, before Mabui answered.

"Yes, though I don't really go by it any more." Naruto nodded, before turning to the Kumo leader.

"In that case, Raikage-dono, I ask for your permission to have a private meeting with Mabui-san sometime soon. After all she is the second, and, likely, more important, reason of why I'm here." The large man narrowed his eyes as he looked at the ronin in front of him.

"Any reasons why I should even consider allowing such a thing?" He asked in low voice that could scare a bijuu. Naruto, though, just shrugged.

"Just one: we are a family through Uzumaki clan. I merely wish to get to know my ...cousin? Mabui-san happens to be the only Uzumaki besides myself that I know of." The Raikage changed in his face and tried to grab Naruto by his throat, but the Kyuubi jinchuuriki slapped his attack away, negating the **raiton no yoroi** with some of his wind chakra.

"How do you know that? That is not something a ronin like you can know!" The dark-skinned man roared, while Mabui herself was still in shock from finding someone who might be a part of her grandmother's clan, and was studying the blond ronin in front of her.

"My ...shishou, Kiraabi – I think, he said he was your brother, Raikage-dono – told me that once we found out my affinity for seals." That seemed to calm the Yondaime Raikage down, though the man still was suspicious of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Shaking his head, the giant of a man finally made his decision:

"I'll let you have a meeting with Mabui-chan, but 'Bi will be there, as well as a cell of my finest ANBU stationed nearby, just in case you try something funny, _Genocide_." Naruto weighted his options. He could disagree with this conditions and lose his (possibly) only chance to get to know someone descending from his mother's clan. Or he could accept and just deal with other being present there... Well, he actually wouldn't mind them much: he had a lot of faith in his fellow jinchuuriki, especially since he hopped for a get together with Kiraabi-shishou, and the ANBU will just be far enough not to hear something they weren't supposed to...

"Very well. When and where this ...meeting can be organized?" The blond ronin asked. The Yondaime Raikage though about that for a moment, before answering:

"Tomorrow, in my private booth in the dining hall of this tower at five in the evening. My ANBU will guide you there, Genocide-san." Then he turned to his assistant. "Is that OK with you, Mabui-chan?" The white-haired kunoichi nodded. "Very well then, Tomorrow at five in the dining hall."

"Thank you, Raikage-dono." Naruto said with a slight bow. "That brings me to the end of my business here. By your leave." Receiving a nod from the leader of Kumo, Naruto stood up and bowing 'goodbye' to him and then to Mabui (who was still there), he left Raikage's office, heading back to the hotel he was staying at.

* * *

The rest of the day Naruto spent exploring those sectors of the Hidden Cloud he was allowed into. And he had to admit that the village was so much different from Kiri or even Konoha... For one, Kumo wasn't importing iron and some other metals needed for the ninja tools – there was a couple of mining villages nearby (all under the direct control of the Raikage) that took care of that.

And the other thing was the ratio of civilians to shinobi. Only Kiri during the final stages of the bloodline purges had less civilians within its walls, as most of the Kumo civilians were living in the satellite villages instead.

All in all, the Hidden Cloud village, being one of the most militarized, was a well-organized structure that was oriented almost completely towards shinobi works, unlike most of the other Hidden villages, where civilian businesses were adding a good percent to the money earned... Not that either was a bad thing, as long as the Hidden village was doing what it was supposed to do: protecting its country.

**~/ *** \~**

The ANBU cell that Raikage tasked with oversee Naruto, entered the dining hall of the tower with the blond swordsman following them closely behind. Kiraabi and. Mabui were already there, though the Hachibi jinchuuriki so far wasn't sure why his brother needed him there – the Fourth Raikage _forgot_ to mention that _the mysterious visitor_ was Naruto Uzumaki... But once he sensed the bits of Kyuubi's yoki, everything was back to its places... Standing up from hiss place on the sofa, Kiraabi approached the blond ronin.

"Long time no see, Mr. nine, good to see that you're fine!" The dark-skinned jinchuuriki rhymed as he did his signature greeting with Naruto, who responded correctly to it... Neither knew, though, that the Raikage, under henge, was observing them from the other side of the dining hall. And right now the leader of the Kumo finally started believing at least a part of what he was told by the blond ronin a day ago. Absentmindedly, A also noted the 'name' his brother addressed Naruto with: there mush have been some reason for it. And since the blond ronin was an Uzumaki – half-blood or not – there was a chance that he was the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko: all other jinchuuriki were known to the Raikage...

"Yeah, nice to see you, shishou." Naruto replied. "Good afternoon, Mabui-san." He then greeted the white-haired kunoichi, before taking his seat in the booth. And while he was doing that, Kiraabi was studying his blade.

"You, kid, have my word, that's a cool sword." The Hachibi jinchuuriki said, still in his annoying rhymes, making the blond ronin nod.

"Yes, Akasha Chisen – that's her name – is my closest friend, who was with me through thick and thin." Naruto replied as he gently toughed the handle of the blood-red sword...

From there Naruto told a shortened version of his life, also avoiding giving away any of his or Mei-chan's secrets, to Mabui, and she returned the favor, allowing the blond in front of her to get to know her a little bit: after all they were the last of their clan... Kiraabi to told Naruto some stories of what he was through in the recent years. All in all, the trio spent several hours there, trading stories of their lives. Eventually, though, the night fell and they had to return to their homes (or, in Naruto's case – to his room in the hotel).

* * *

When the Kyuubi jinchuuriki arrived to the hotel room he was staying at, there was a scroll on his bed waiting for him. And this scroll had Mizukage's seal on it, meaning that Mei-chan had some important task for him. Breaking the seal, Naruto unrolled the scroll and read the message... It turned out, he was given a high-A ranked assassination mission in the Wave country. He had to put down Gatou to let the small country breathe freely again. Mei-chan was asking him to do this in hopes that the Wave country would use the services of Kiri ninja for their mission, should they remove the 'tyrant'...

Shrugging, the blond swordsman quickly wrote a response that said that he accepted the mission. He will head out tomorrow afternoon, as he had planned to have a quick spar with Kiraabi the next morning and not coming would be a bad tone.

* * *

That's all, folks!  
**Read** and **Review**!


	18. Kirigakure no Kijin

Hello, everyone, here's the newest chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story! Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**macabre-wolf**, **karthik9**, **jafr86**, **Naginator**, **sh8ad8ow**, **fanficreader71**, **Ronin Kenshin**, **Andrew MacKenzie**, **griffin blackwood**, **LbcLostKid**, **ScrimjaNinja**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **Umbra8191**, **jh831**, **ogihcI ikasoruK**, **warriorx559**, **puma1sunfire**, **Knives91**, thank you for your reviews, folks!  
**TheDemonKingNaruto**, in my other stories (like the next stub in the "scrapbook" I'll use this idea) but for "_**Ronin**_" itself - not much: she had already played her role (look up chapter 3 to understand). As for Akasha getting more real body - it might happen in the sequel.  
**Wyrtha**, who knows, who knows...  
**deadkid23**, if he cooperates.  
**BowTechsniper**, I though I was ending some plotlines... oh well... I will update all of my stories before the New Year. Though I planned to write a new chapter for "_**Pyro**_" first (to end the arc).  
**luffyxrobin-luffyxnami**, sorry.  
**Rixxell Stryfe**, I do not plan to cover Kiri-Kumo alliance in the next chapter, but look like there WILL be a sequel, where that will be covered. though our Kumo 'Uzumaki' will get something that is (rightfully) hers the next chapter...  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, this is not the last chapter, so 'lived happily ever after' will NOT be in this chapter =)  
**Alphawolfy28**, we've discussed this via pm.

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Kirigakure no jutsu** - (C-rank) Hidden mist technique - covers area with thick mist.  
**Shunshin no jutsu** - (D-rank) Body flicker technique - short range 'teleportation'.

*** Author's note**: There will be only one more chapter to this story. I may write a sequel someday, bit for now "_**Ronin**_" will be marked as 'complete'. Also, I'm awfully sorry for delaying this chapter, but I was really busy with me university and had little to no free time to write anything.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

* * *

_This chapter is not beta-read.  
_

* * *

**chapter 16: Kirigakure no Kijin**

Naruto was standing on the deck of the ship that was sailing from Lightning country to Fire country, watching the gray pre-storm sea impassively. Suddenly a messenger bird appeared out of the clouds, heading straight towards him. Raising his arm for the bird to land on, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki took the message that was attached to the bird's leg.

As it turned out, Mei-chan was sending him some further information about his current mission, along with the new one: according to the spy network, Zabuza Momochi, former member of Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū and a man that rebelled against Yagura, was in the region, along with the boy that appeared to be the last of the Yuki clan. So, Naruto's secondary mission was to bring Kubikiri bouchou back to Kiri, with or without its wielder. He was also to try to bring Yuki boy to Kiri as well – if not, a DNA sample would suffice.

Also, it appeared, according to the spy network, that Gatou was after the man named Tazuna, who was a bridge builder. And this Tazuna person asked Konoha ninja for help – this made Naruto's mission slightly more difficult, as greater politics were involved, but the Kyuubi jinchuuriki decided that he'll be able to do everything Mei-chan wanted, including convincing the leaders of the Wave country that Kirigakure no sato was a better village for them to work with, anyway.

**~/ *** \~**

Hatake Kakashi was not having a good week. Scratch that, he was not having a good quarter. First, the council and Hokage decided to burden him with not one – he could deal with training just Sasuke. He owed that much to Obito after all – but three genin, and two of them were pathetically weak and useless fangirls. But the things weren't as bad while they were doing D-rank missions inside Konoha... Right now, though, the team seven was on a C-rank turned A-rank mission, with no backup coming anytime soon.

Suddenly Kakashi's trained eye spotted something that wasn't supposed to be there: he saw a rabbit with white fur in the summer forest. It took the Konoha jounin less than a moment to come to a conclusion that the critter was used for a substitution. This meant that there was an enemy ninja nearby. Indeed, a moment later the gray-haired shinobi heard a sound of something big flying towards his group.

"Everybody down!" Kakashi ordered, while pushing Tazuna the bridge builder onto the ground. Just in time, as a large cleaver flew through the space Tazuna's neck and head had occupied a moment ago... The cleaver imbedded firmly into a tree, and a large man appeared on its handle via **shunshin**. This man had short dark hair and wore dark-blue shirt and pants, along with light-gray hand-warmers and a couple of layer of bandages around his neck and lower face.

"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist. A-rank missing-nin." Kakashi said recognizing his opponent, as he uncovered his implanted sharingan. Zabuza cocked his head.

"I honored that such a legend like you, Sharingan no Kakashi, knows who I am. And you are already using against me?" Ripping his sword from the tree, the Kiri missing-nin landed on the ground "You know, if you just handle the old man over to me, I won't have to kill you and the three pathetic brats you call ninja." The amount of killing intent Zabuza was leaking was so great that Tazuna and two genin kunoichi were frozen in place, while Sasuka Uchiha was trembling like an aspen leaf.

"Sorry, but the old man is my client, so I'll have to protect him." Kakashi replied with a shrug, while smiling with just his eyes. The missing-nin let out a growl.

"In that case I'll just have to kill you first." He said, while doing some handseals. "**Kirigakure no jutsu!**" Almost instantly the clearing was filed with a fog so thick that it was practically impossible to see anything more than a couple of feet away... Kakashi got ready to protect his client or his students from Zabuza's silent killing method attacks, but that was not needed, as a very powerful gust of wind blew the fog away.

"Zabuza Momochi, A-rank missing-nin..." A disembodied voice said. "You are standing in the way of my mission... Get lost." The missing-nin in question just laughed at the threat, while raising his sword and pointing it in the random direction.

"Show yourself!" Zabuza ordered, while looking around in hopes to see the one who dared to interrupt his 'fun' with Konoha brats.

"As you wish." Still disembodied voice replied, before a single van stepped out of the forest. The man was wearing dark-gray cloak with tattered bottom. The hood of the cloak (and parts of the shoulders) were of a crimson color, like they painted red with blood. Zabuza couldn't see this man's face properly because of the cloak's hood, but he could easily tell that this man had red and slitted, almost demonic eyes... Finally, there was a crimson longsword with a cross-shaped hole in the blade on the man's back. It took the ex-member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist a couple of moments to recognize the cloaked swordsman in front of him: he had seen hi in the Kiri bingo book he had taken from a hunter ninja sent after him some two years ago...

"Genocide." He said calmly, though on the inside he was all but trembling in fear: this wasn't someone he wanted to fight. Especially when there was a great chance of Hatake joining the fight on the side of the 'Genocide'. The cloaked man just shrugged nonchalantly, before drawing his sword and pointing it at Zabuza.

"Leave now and we will not have to fight." The 'Genocide' said. The larger swordsman in front of him was thinking for a couple of moments, before returning his zanbatou to its place on his back.

"Look like luck is on your side today, Hatake. But we will definitely meet again, and then I will kill the old man." With those words Zabuza disappeared from the clearing via **shunshin**. Seeing that the man no longer was here, the red-eyed swordsman too return his sword to its place, before turning to Kakashi:

"Hatake-san, since our mission do not interfere with each other, and we're working towards more or less the same goal, I propose a truce." Before Kakashi could answer, though, Sasuke put a foot in his mouth.

"Who the hell are you?" The young Uchiha asked, sounding extremely arrogant. The hooded swordsman didn't answer, which seemed to piss the raven-haired boy off. "I askew who are you!" Deciding to save his student – stop him before he annoyed the red-eyed swordsman too much – Kakashi put his hand over Sasuke's mouth, silencing him.

"This, Sasuke, is a ninja know by his moniker 'the Genocide'. He is the only ronin in the recent history to achieve S-rank... Actually, the only thing I seem to have over him is my experience." The Konoha copy ninja said.

"Ha!" The last Uchiha loyal to Konoha said, as he removed his sensei's hand from over his mouth. "Is he really strong? I mean, look at his clothes. They are rags..." His two fangirls were nodding in agreement.

"Is that so?" The red-eyed swordsman asked in a low calm voice, before releasing a wave of killing intent that was twice as strong as Zabuza's. But unlike him, the 'Genocide' turned his KI off almost immediately after. "You are pathetic, really." He concluded, as he studied the reactions of Kakashi's students to his little display of power. "The girls are especially so... You two are disgraces to kunoichi." Leaving Sakura and Ami fuming over his words, he turned to Sasuke. "And you are too arrogant for your level of skill. This may one day cost you your life." Finally, the cloaked ninja addressed the sensei of the team seven. "Hatake-san. I know that you're a splendid ninja, but as a sensei to these three... you've failed miserably. Mark my words, if you don't step up their training, their lives will be forfeit should they find themselves on a battlefield."

"Hai, hai." Kakashi replied, waving his hand dismissively. The red-eyed swordsman wasn't paying him any mind though, as had already switched his attention to Tazuna.

"Now, Mr. bridge builder..." Ignoring man's correction about him being super bridge builder, the swordsman continued. "...It is imperative that we bring you back to your home. So, let's stop wasting our time here." Nodding, Tazuna started walking down the road towards where his house was. The 'Genocide' was walking next to him, ready to defend the self-proclaimed super bridge builder, should there be someone foolish enough to attack him now. Finally, some distance behind the two, the team seven was walking.

"Ano... Kakashi-sensei." Sakura asked finally. "Is that man really that strong?" The Konoha copy-ninja nodded.

"Indeed, Sakura-chan, he is stronger than I'm. Actually, let me tell you the legend about why his cloak has reds... Some say that it is the blood of those he had killed during one of the battles in the land of Water. They say he singlehandedly slew thirty chuunin and jounin..."

"Twenty nine." The 'Genocide' corrected form his position next to Tazuna. "I had left one of them alive, so that he would pass my message to that bastard Yagura." Kakashi nodded.

"Anyway... This man killed a platoon of chuunin and jounin on his own. That is where his moniker comes from, they say." Hearing that, Sasuke growled slightly under his breath: this 'Genocide' looked to be still in his teens, yet he was so powerful... Why was he so weak? Was his hatred for Itachi not enough to give him the power? Next to him, his two loyal fangirls were thinking that their Sasuke-sama was still so much better than this ronin...

* * *

"Tsunami-chan! Inari-kun!" Tazuna said loudly as he and the five ninja entered his house. "I'm home, all thanks to these super ninja!" Almost immediately a pretty dark-haired woman of about thirty years old peeked out of the kitchen.

"Welcome home, pa. Greetings, shinobi, and thank you for protecting my father." She said with a bow, then she turned to her father. "I thought that ninja teams were of four members. Why there are five of them?"

"That super swordsman wasn't with the Konoha team. He joined us later on, but he did us a super help with that Zabuza guy." Tazuna replied with a shrug. Sighing, Tsunami addressed to Naruto.

"I'm sorry, but there is no much space available in my house. Would mind sharing a room with Tazuna?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki shook his head.

"There is no need for that. I won't need a room... Actually, I shall be on my way to complete my own mission. Assisting those four seemed to be just a good idea to ensure my own success." The cloaked swordsman replied. "Plus, I don't really need to sleep at all." This made Kakashi look at him strangely.

"It's your bloodline?" The copy-nin asked. After all, he remembered that the 'Genocide' was from the Water country, and there were bloodline purges until recently. The cloaked swordsman looked at him strangely, but replied anyway.

"No, it's just a personal ability." Sasuke tried to say something about how much useless this ability was, but Naruto ignored him. He turned back to Tsunami instead. "Would it be too much to ask for some lunch? Then I'll be on my way." The dark-haired woman shook her head.

"No, not at all... Actually, I'll set the table in a couple of minutes, so come in inside." She said, while gesturing towards the guestroom...

The lunch Naruto spent in silence, quickly finishing his bowl of rice with some vegetable in it. And once he was done, he stood up and, thanking the hostess headed out of the room. He stopped in the doors, though.

"Once again, thank you for the meal. Now I shall be on my way. I have one certain rich midget to kill." And with those words he left the house, leaving Kakashi wondering who had pissed the 'Genocide' off. Actually, he had an idea, that the mysterious ronin – why did he have a feeling that he should know this man? – was after Gatou's head, but he wasn't one hundred percents sure...

**~/ *** \~**

"Zabuza!" An angry rich midget asked as he stomped into the room where the missing-nin was. "Why is that bridge builder still alive? I'm not paying you for sitting there and doing nothing! Go kill him if you want your money!" Haku, Zabuza's partner, wanted to say something, but the swordsman stopped him.

"Gatou." He said. "I would have killed the man if the only high-ranked opponent I had to face was Hatake Kakashi, as we've originally thought. But an S-rank ninja known by the moniker the 'Genocide' decided to join the skirmish on Kakashi's side... I can't possibly defeat them both in the open. But don't worry, Gatou, your little problem of a bridge builder will die before the sun sets tomorrow." The midget man nodded.

"Very well." Gatou didn't want to accept this excuse, but with Zabuza being just an A-rank ninja, he'd definitely lose against two A- and S-ranked ones. And Zabuza was still of use to him. "But if you fail tomorrow, I will set Mist hunter-nins upon you." The swordsman remained visibly impassive at the threat. Gatou then turned around and walked out of the room, two of his bodyguards following him closely behind.

**~/ *** \~**

Gatou was very nervous at the moment: someone dared to attack his compound, and judging by how long the sirens were on, his personal army of thugs couldn't deal with that annoyance fast. The little man, though, was sure that sooner or later the attacker will be dealt with... Plus it was not like the attacker could reach him there, in his personal chambers, behind thick steel doors...

Suddenly the doors got a huge bump on them – like so kind of an extremely strong monster had punched them. Another second later, there was the second strike, and this time the hinges broke. With a loud clanging sound the heavy doors fell on the floor, revealing the two people that were behind them. One of them was a scantly-clad redhead with red slitted eyes – and it looked like she was the one to knock the doors off – and the other was a cloaked swordsman that was well-known by his moniker: the 'Genocide'.

"Kill them." Gatou ordered to the two samurai that were his personal bodyguards. The were ready to attack, their swords drawn, when the redhead appeared between them, her hands on their head. Then she ripped their heads off with surprising ease.

"Thank you, Akasha-chan." The cloaked swordsman said, making the red-haired demoness turn around. "I think I can handle the rest on my own." She pouted at him. After a couple of seconds he gave in and removed the hood of his cloak, revealing that he had spiky blond hair and whisker-like marks on his cheeks... As soon as he had bared his neck, the redhead gently bit him there and, no doubt, drank some of his blood. Once she had had her 'dose', she made a strange handseal and disappeared into the blood-rest mist.

"You! Get lost, or I'll have my men butcher you!" Gatou, finally out of his stupor, shouted. This, though, only made the attacker laugh evilly.

"Are you talking about those poor souls we have sent onto the next great adventure? You're the last man, besides myself, of course, alive in this mansion." The blond shinobi said.

"I won't be killed by the scum like you!" The midget of a man shouted as he pointed his cane at Naruto, and fired the crossbow bolt that was hidden in it... The Kyuubi jinchuuriki, though, caught the projectile quire easily, though it did scratch one of his fingers. "Ha! You're a dead man!" ...Apparently, the bolt was coated in some poison. The red-eyed swordsman shook his head.

"Sorry, these poisons don't work on me." Then he drew a kunai, coating it with some of his wind chakra. "Now, how 'bout I butcher you?" Seeing that he had no hope in offing the man in front of him, Gatou decided to try getting him on his side:

"Please! Don't kill me! I can give you anything you want! Money, power, women! Anything!" He pleaded, but received only a blank look in response.

"What makes you think that can't get those from you after killing you?" Naruto twirled kunai in his hand. "Now be good and stay put." He twirled the kunai again, looking at the blade. "Akasha says you are not worthy of being killed by her blade, so this one should do." And before Gatou could say or do anything, his head was separated from his body by a blade of wind. "Now let's see where you're keeping your money..." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said to himself as he returned the kunai to its holster.

**~/ *** \~**

Zabuza turned around sharply when he heard someone enter his room, even though he had told Haku not to disturb him nor let anyone else do that...What he saw made him freeze for a moment: here, in his secret hideout was the 'Genocide' with unconscious Haku over his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I haven't killed your partner." The 'Genocide' said as he dropped the ice user into an armchair. As son as that happened, Zabuza drew his cleaver and tried to behead Naruto, but his blade was stopped with just a kunai. "Relax." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already." He made a pause, before continuing: "Now then, the Mizukage wants your sword back to the village. You can come along peacefully or..." Unfortunately, Naruto forgot that these were not the words he should use around Zabuza, as the man tried to cleave him into two again (and again his Kubikiri Bouchou was stopped by a kunai).

"Over my dead body." The Kiri missing-nin hissed, though it failed to impress the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

"I can organize that." He replied, before continuing: "But with the recent events that happened back in the land of Water, I'm most sure that both you and your partner will be welcomed there... Oh, and just so that you know it, Gatou wasn't going to pay. Instead he'd have a small army of his thugs overwhelm you after you were tired out by Hatake... And please lower your sword. We've have already established that if I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be alive right now."

"How do you know that?" Zabuza growled, still trying to off the younger swordsman with his cleaver, who, still, was acting like there was no huge blade pointing towards his neck.

"In order. I know about Gatou's plans because I killed him about an hour ago, per Mizukage's orders. And about the Mizukage welcoming you back to the village... Mizukage had changed." His words, though, had a double meaning, and Zabuza chose the 'wrong' one.

"Yagura was cured of that curse sharingan freak placed on him?" The Kirigakure no kijin asked, lowering his blade a bit.

"Yes. Via decapitation." Then Naruto slowly drew Akasha, displaying her crimson blade to the other swordsman. "But this very sword." ...It took several seconds for Zabuza to understand what these words meant.

"Yagura is dead then." He stated matter-of-factly. "Who is the new Mizukage?" The red-eyed blond waited for a second, before giving an answer:

"Terumi Mei, the south-west general." After a moment of silence he added the next part, though Zabuza had understood that already: "The rebellion had won." Zabuza nodded slowly, not sure what to think of this revelation: on one hand, Kiri now had a better leader, on the other... the reason of the last several years of his life has been just taken from him.

"Very well. I'll think about visiting Kiri to see what this Terumi is up to, and how good a leader she is." Naruto narrowed his eyes a bit – after all someone was talking somewhat disdainfully about his mate, but he let it slide for now.

"I'm afraid, your options are somewhat limited, as I'm here on a mission to recover the Kubikiri Bouchou." Then the 'Genocide' sighed. "Anyway, I have some business in the village. I will give you a day to get ready to return ti Kirigakure... Just don't think that I will let you escape with your sword from me." And then he vanished into small explosion of wind, revealing himself to be nothing more than a clone...

"Darn it!" Zabuza swore, before sitting back down to think of what he had to do in this situation... On one hand, with a new Mizukage and someone who saw Yagura as an enemy, he might be really accepted back into the village. But on the other hand... it was still possible that he would not be seen as a returning war hero... Oh well, with a ninja like the 'Genocide' sent to retrieve him, Zabuza knew that his best option was to comply with the request to return to Kiri. He could always run away later...

**~/ *** \~**

Almost at the same time Naruto organized a gathering of Wave citizens on the main square of the town. Once he was sure that the crowd was at its maximum, even the Konoha ninja were there, he made his announcement:

"People of Wave, the tyrant that had ruled you with fear of his fake power is no more, as is his army of outlaws." With these words, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki unsealed Gatou's head from his scroll and kicked it into a trash-container on the other side of the plaza. This all had quite an effect, as now Naruto could see dozens upon dozens of shocked faces of Wave citizens: it seemed that the midget 'businessman' managed to make to local population believe that there was nothing that could release his hold on the country... While people were still busy processing what they had just seen, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki continued: "You can find the money and things taken from you in the Gatou's mansion a mile to the North from the 'Blue tide' sea port. There are no guards there left alive, so no one will stop you from reclaiming what is rightfully yours." This caused the crowd to cheer loudly, and the most impatient were already turning around to leave the plaza and to head to the dead businessman's mansion... The red-eyed swordsman sent a brief wave of killing intent to stop them: he wasn't finished with his announcement yet. "This freedom is a gift to your country from the new Mizukage, and itt would be good if you do not allow another tyrant to take over."

Though the words themselves didn't tell it, many, Konoha ninja (well, Kakashi) included, got the hidden message: Kiri wanted to have Wave as an ally, like they used to before the bloodline purges started six years ago. The copy-nin didn't like the idea of something strengthening Konoha's potential enemy, but in this case it would be impossible to turn Nami no kuni away from Kiri without using military forces... And using them was a sure way to start a Fourth Great shinobi war, something that Konoha was not ready to yet. So, he decided, hi steam will keep guarding Tazuna till he completes the bridge – Zabuza might still be around and not yet aware of his employer's death – but he will not insist on Wave country choosing Konoha over Kiri as their protector... It will do no good.

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That's all, folks!  
**Read** and **Review**!


	19. Naruto of the Hidden Mist

Hello, everyone, here's the final chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story! Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**karthik9**, **Alphawolfy28**, **Darksnider05**, **jafr86**, **EternalKnight219**, **fanficreader71**, **Umbra8191**, **griffin blackwood**, **sh8ad8ow**, **ddcj1990**, **LbcLostKid**, **darwinsito**, **ryuhitsuguya93**, **Still Not Dead Yet**, **Akira Stridder**, **jh831**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **BlackSkullDragon**, **bumike99**, **warriorx559**, **puma1sunfire**, **Vic dit vic**, thank you for your reviews, folks!  
**Azurealkaze**, **FF13unleashed**, **Wyrtha**, hehehe. nope, he won't.  
**macabre-wolf**, I think, I've answered you via PM, but if not - look at the very end of the chapter: your answer is here.  
**ogihcI ikasoruK**, thanks, man!  
**BowTechsniper**, **Rixxell Stryfe**, how 'bout Naruto versus Zabuza somewhere in the beginning of the sequel?  
**rescue 007**, sorry, all out of citrus. =)

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**Fuuton: shinkuu gyoku** - (unknown rank) Wind style: vacuum sphere - User expels multiple penetrating wind bullets.  
**Ura shishou** - (unknown rank, possibly S) Reverse four image seal - Upon activation, sucks everything within certain radius into the seal and seals it away permanently.

**Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!**

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**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own _**Naruto **_or its characters. I do not own _**Rosario + Vampire**_ II (First part too, actually), from where the name Akasha Chisen (Bloodriver) comes, either. And, of course, I don't own _**Red Eyes**_ either - Naruto's nickname in the bingo books comes from this manga.

"speaking"  
'_thinking_'  
"**speaking of the higher beings** / **jutsu** / **Naruto while using Kyuubi's yoki**"  
'_**thinking of the higher beings / Kyuubi and Akashi talking to Naruto in his mind**_'  
_written message_

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_This chapter is not beta-read.  
_

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**chapter 17: Naruto of the Hidden Mist**

"So, what is your decision? Are you coming willingly, or do I have to take you by force?" Naruto asked as he appeared just outside the window of Zabuza's hut, approximately and hour after his clone paid a visit to the missing-nin. The said missing-nin, along with his associate Haku, was sitting in the living room and having some very late lunch, or, maybe, a very early dinner.

"We will come." Zabuza replied. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki was a bit surprised at how seemingly easy convincing the man to return to Kiri was. Most likely he had a plan to run away as soon as he let his attention wander away from him. Fat chance there.

"Very well." The cloaked swordsman replied. "Finish your meal and be ready for a marching to the docks. There is a ship waiting for us." And then he let his presence fade, though he still was there, watching the hut closely, so that the two wouldn't run away... Plus he needed to make some preparations for a plan of his own: their ship will be sailing rather close to the land of Whirlpools, so the Kyuubi jinchuuriki planned to send a reinforced **kage bunshin** to search the ruins for the valuables. He needed to plan the way to deliver those valuables to him, though, as the clone would not be able to do that without some help...

Half an hour later, Zabuza and Haku, having everything of a value sealed into the scrolls on them, opened the hut's door and walked out of it. As soon as they did it, Naruto practically materialized next to them.

"Let us be on our way." He said, telling the two to start walking towards the port, while he followed them closely behind – he wasn't stupid to give them even a chance to stab him in the back (both literally and figuratively).

The three shinobi soon reached the port, where a ship going to the Water country was waiting for them – the Kyuubi jinchuuriki had his clone talk to the captain earlier, so now they had no problems with getting on board... Three hours later, they already were in the open sea.

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto's enforced shadow clone stepped onto the solid ground, finally, after several hours of walking the not-so-calm sea. It looked around, surveying what was left from once mighty Uzushiogakure no Sato... Right now, though, nothing but ruins were there, ruins and wild trees growing on them... It didn't look like anything of any value could be found there, but the clone still had to search the place – that was its mission, after all.

Deciding that it had the best chance to find anything near the center of the village, the **kage bunshin** headed towards one of the few not completely destroyed houses – though it still was nothing more than wall fragments and a pile of rubble – that, supposedly, was the administrative building once upon a time. Since it had been given quite some chakra by the creator, the doppelganger decided to summon a couple of its own clones to speed up the process of searching the ruins...

...Several hours of hard work yielded almost no results: it appeared that the things that weren't destroyed during the fall of the village were already taken away either by the survivors or by those who raided the ruins in search for something valuable or was just lost to time... Still, the clones had recovered several golden buttons with the spiral emblem, a necklace of a dull-green stone (too with the Uzushio emblem on it), several coins and some patches of red and blue cloths – this was everything that the clones could find. Of course, there still were the houses on the edge of the village, but it was not likely that something of any value could be found there.

After some thinking, the (main) clone decided that everything but the cloths should be sent to their creator. So, taking out one of the scrolls that the real Naruto gave it, the clone sealed the findings and the other scrolls into it, before summoning a messenger bird to carry this scroll to Kiri... Once that was done and the bird had taken off, the clone dispelled itself.

**~/ *** \~**

Meanwhile, in Kumo the analytics finished studying the documents about the alliance with Hidden Mist that Naruto had brought there, and presented their results to the Raikage, so that he could make the final decision.

Even though A was not the brightest man, and got his position more for his battle prowess than for his political skills, he still never let anyone do any major decisions about the future of the village without him knowing all pros and cons of the act. So, right now he was studying the documents from Kiri, and what his analytics had written about them... It looked like the alliance was somewhat beneficial for Kumo, though, at the moment, Hidden Mist was getting more advantages from it than his village did.

After some thinking, the dark-skinned Raikage decided that he should add several clauses, that would allow Kumo to get more benefits from the alliance later on. And once he had ran the changes by his analytics (and Mabui before them, as she was his most trusted assistant), A sent the edited set of documents back to Kiri, to see and how much they wanted and needed this alliance, and how much they were willing to give in order to have an ally like Hidden Cloud village.

**~/ *** \~**

Mei had sent two of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū, Choujirou and Aoba, and a squad of ANBU to escort Zabuza and his apprentice from the Western port of the Water country 'back' to the Hidden Mist village. And Naruto was silently glad that she did that, as being constantly on alert around the former member of the Seven Swordsmen was tiring him out.

Of course, Zabuza was not in the best mood, seeing how many of potential enemies there were around him, but he hid that well, and so the convoy reached the gates of Kirigakure no Sato without any incidents four days after they had left the port town. At the gates, everyone's documents were checked (Choujirou had the temporary ones for Zabuza and Haku), before they were let it. And once they were inside the village walls, another ANBU cell joined the convoy as they took the missing-nin and his apprentice to the Mizukage's palace.

Mei had cleared her schedule for the whole day to have her talk with Zabuza, so when he was finally delivered there, she was already tired of waiting. The same could be said about the two more members of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū that were in her office. Naruto had personally tested Hitagi, so that he knew her to be one of the seven, the other, though – Noen Yamato, the new wielder of the Kabutowari – was just an elite jounin when he left Kiri to go to Kumo...

Knowing that her boyfriend must be tired from the mission, the red-haired Kage dismissed him once he had completed his oral report. Choujirou and Aoba and the ANBU cell that escorted Zabuza from the port were dismissed as well. The other cell was ordered to remain there for the duration of Mei's talk with the Kirigakure no Kijin...

"Now, that the formalities with the others are done, I'd like to officially welcome you back to the Hidden Mist village, Zabuza Momochi." The Fifth Mizukage said. "Knowing what you did during the early days of the bloodline purges..." Zabuza, though, decided to be 'rude', and, raising his hand, interrupted the red-haired village leader.

"I'm terribly sorry, ma'am, but as of yet, I'm not sure about rejoining the village: I've not seen what _you_ are standing for. For all I know, you can be even worse than Yagura." Mei sent him her best glare – which actually made him shut up – but before the situation could escalate further, she recomposed herself.

"I will be very thankful if you _do not_ compare me to that bastard." She hissed. "Or I may just kill you." Shaking her head, she resumed talking in a calm voice, reserved for the political discussions: "Now then, what I wanted to say is..." And so the negotiations began...

**~/ *** \~**

Since Naruto was already sleeping by the time Mei had finished the negotiations with Zabuza – somehow she was able to convince him to stay for the time being, which meant that most likely he will no be able to leave at all. Not with the sword, at least – the welcoming party for the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was postponed till tomorrow's morning.

That morning the blond swordsman woke up cuddled with his three loves. Mei was on his right side; Akasha, whom he 'let out' yesterday before going to bed, on the left; and Kagerou on top of him, and, apparently ready for some 'escapades', just as the two redheads... Good thing, it was a weekend. Needless to say that none of them left the bedroom till noon...

* * *

Still, eventually, the welcoming 'party' ended, and everyone (bar the vampiress, of course) had to return to their work, and for Mei that was deciding what will Kiri do with the upcoming chuunin exams in Konoha. Sure, it will be good to show everyone that the Hidden Mist was back and as strong as ever, but remembering what Naruto said about that village, she wasn't sure that sending her genin there would be a good idea. So, she did a rare thing and summoned the council to help her decide – unlike what was happening in the Hidden Leaf, the council of Kiri truly was just an advisory office, consisting of the four elders... As fast as they could, the four elders got to the meeting room on the ground floor of the Mizukage's palace, where Mei was already waiting for them.

"Good day, honorable elders of Kirigakure no Sato." The red-haired Kage greeted them. "We are here to discuss sending our best genin to the semi-annual chuunin exams that, this time, are held in Konoha." The elders nodded. "Your thoughts on this matter, please." She decided she will listen to what they have to say first.

"As we all no doubt know, chuunin exams are an important political event that shows everyone what the village's new generation can do." Elder Muramasa, a bald man in his late nineties, possibly the oldest ninja alive, said. While he never went past an average jounin in terms of strength, an now could barely walk even with a staff, he always possessed a sharp mind, which was why he was a village elder for the last twenty five years. "I believe that the participation of our village in these exams is a must. But knowing how things always seem to happen in the Leaf, we should be careful."

"I agree, we ought to show the world that Kiri is strong and ready, but we also should be careful not to lose our young talents in Konoha – they are still an enemy territory and who knows what can happen here." Elder Aoi, a short woman with watery gray hair in early eighties, and one of the few kunoichi in history to attain S-rank, spoke.

"And I'm against sending our teams to Konoha." The third elder, Tokawa, a man in late eighties, with mostly bald head (only some hair on the sides remained), said. "Orochimaru the sannin was said to be spotted in the Fire and Wind countries. He's planning something, and knowing his hate for his home village... We do not want to lose our young in the conflict of others." The fourth elder, a man by the name Okoro, who was Tokawa's teammate, just nodded in agreement.

"I thank you for your opinions, honorable elders." Mei said. "Now, let me propose a course of action for the given situation..." And she began explaining her plan that consisted of sending two teams of fresh chuunin (this way no one not from Kiri will know of their true rank), posing as genin. These six shinobi should be good enough to suffer no losses during the exam and have at least one of them reach the finals... And in case Orochimaru will attack Konoha, like elder Tokawa thought, the 'genin' will leave the area and will not interfere with the fight... After long and tiresome debates, the elders agreed to Mei's plan, and so the redhead now had to have the jounin commander form the teams to be sent to Konoha for the chuunin exams.

* * *

Meanwhile the four current members of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were having a 'babysitting' mission. They were to be by Zabuza's side, while the man was walking around the village to see how it was under the rule of the Fifth Mizukage: he had agreed to rejoin the village, should he find the things to be to his liking... Of course, if that wasn't the case, the acting members of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū were ordered to eliminate him, but Zabuza didn't need to know that.

So far, though, it looked like the ex-missing-nin – he was temporary removed from the bingo books – will be staying, as he looked quite pleased with the 'new' Kiri, despite his constant comment about how he thought the things should be done that the four of his minders had to listen to.

**~/ *** \~**

A week of 'relaxation' later, Naruto was given a new mission by Mei: he had to investigate a remote island just outside the Water country territory, as some suspicious activity was reported to be seen there. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki readily accepted this mission, and that evening was already on his way. It took him three days to get to the Northern port, and another week to get to the closest island to the target the captains were willing to sail to. From there he just water-walked to the island he was told to investigate.

Once he was on _that_ island – a fairly large one, with an active volcano in the center – he began looking for anything suspicious, but almost as soon as he stepped on the island, he got attacked by a giant millipede, the one you'd expect to be a summon. Though, a well-aimed wind blade decapitating the beast revealed that this was not a summon – it didn't disappear upon its death. And that was troublesome...

'_So, it appears that the rumors about the island where many beast used in summoning contracts live were true, after all._' The blond swordsman concluded. Well, from now on he had to be much more careful as he might get too much attention from the local creatures otherwise, and he didn't fancy fighting entire population of summons...

As he continued the exploration of the island, he could feel that something was not right, as he could see various beasts _running away_ from the volcano part of the island. Summons didn't just avoid the territories for no reason. So fighting his own instincts to run away, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki headed towards the volcano. And just as he was approaching it, there was an explosion somewhere in it, and a type of explosion that was not a sign of volcano eruption: something was on this island, and it was being destroyed at the moment.

Seeing no apparent entrance on the sides of the volcano, Naruto ran up to the crater, and, looking down, saw a path leading into the mountain. And judging by sounds (mainly, screams and roars) something was happening inside... Running on the wall, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki reached the path, and followed it into what seemed to be a genetic laboratory. Inside, he could see a strange creature looking like a pupa with tentacles and small arms in process of eating the last of the scientists. An experiment gone wrong, the blond swordsman concluded, before drawing his sword and sending several wind blades towards the beast. Much to his surprise, the ninjustu seemed to have no effect on the creature, as it just absorbed the chakra out of the technique, canceling it.

"Dammit!" Naruto swore. "I'll need some serious firepower here. **Kage busnhin!**" A dozen of his shadow clones appeared, before charging at the beast, while the real blond was doing handseals for his own 'summoning' – this seemed to be a job just for Akasha... Unfortunately for the Kyuubi jinchuuriki his clones were destroyed too fast, and now, that it had finished its 'meal', the beast turned its attention to him. But the creature was moving too slowly to force Naruto cancel his technique to defend himself, so he managed to successfully summon the vampiress.

"**And what do I have to do with this thing?**" The redhead asked, as she observed the approaching beast. "**It's a bit too big to handle it with bare hands...**" The creature chose this moment to attack with the tentacles that formed around the mouth on its stomach. But both Naruto and Akasha were too fast for it, and it missed. "**Oh well, looks like I have no choice.**" The vampiress concluded, before sprinting towards the beast... Naruto, on the other hand, jumped backwards, while throwing a handful of kunai with explosive tags attached at it.

"Eat this!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said loudly, as he detonated the tags, forcing the mutant creature to stumble back a bit. And while it was recovering, Akasha, whose hands were now covered with runic arrays of some sort, got close to it and threw a punch, which sent the beast flying backwards in the wall of the laboratory. It recovered pretty quickly, though, and spit some lightning balls towards its offenders from the mouth on its head.

"**Fuuton: shinkuu gyoku!**" Using his sword as a medium, Naruto sent a multitude of wind balls to counter the lightning technique of the beast. Then he switched to producing the jutsu with his mouth, while using a lighter to turn the wind balls into fireballs – those ought to do at least some damage to the creature they were fighting... Akasha too wasn't standing and doing nothing: the vampiress got a huge metal rod from somewhere, and threw it at the beast as if it was a spear... This attack was moderately successful as even a headshot didn't seem to be fatal to the abomination, it just slowed it down a bit.

"**Oh well, time for some dirty work.**" The redhead said with a sigh, before covering her body with a protective layer of chakra – she was quite aware that her body was just an energy construct, so touching the beast directly would be a suicide for her... Even with this protection, she won't have much time for the contact. Running up to the beast, she punched it, again sending it into the wall. Then she jumped up, before doing a heel-drop on its head... This didn't seem to do much good, but Akasha just shrugged it off and continued her assault. Doing a hand-stand, she ripped off a part of the beast's head, before having to jump away as her protection was almost gone. "**This thing is really tough.**" She said, and Naruto could only nod in agreement.

"Any ideas on how to defeat this thing?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki asked as they dodged another attempt of the beast to catch them with its tentacles.

"**We can throw it into lava of the volcano.**" Akasha replied. "**Or you can try using ura shoshou seal on it... Or just stuff it with explosives. That should work as well.**" Naruto nodded, and prepared another pack of explosive tags, attaching them to a kunai of his. But before he could throw it, the beast attacked, sending a powerful gust of cutting wind in his direction, forcing him to dodge. Then it switched its attention to the vampiress, throwing several lightning balls into her, making her cancel whatever she was doing with runic arrays at the moment and evade the attack.

"Here we go." Naruto whispered under his breath, as he threw the kunai with explosive tags into the beast's (lower) mouth. "Boom." He detonated the explosives just as the knife lodged itself into the target's flesh... There was a loud explosion that tore half of the abomination's body, but that didn't seem to bother the creature much – only made it stop its advance for a couple of seconds. "Damn! Is this thing even killable?"

"**Of course it is!**" The red-haired vampiress replied, while scoring the second headshot with what looked like a long piece of rail. "**Keep it busy for me.**" Nodding, Naruto began spamming the beast with various ninjutsu, even if those seemed to be useless against it, while Akasha got close to it with another rail. Hitting the back of the beast's head with it, she sent it face first into the ground, and while it was trying to get up, using one the rails she had put through its head as a handle, the vampiress lifted the abomination, and threw it in the direction of the exit from the lab and towards the lava... Unfortunately she was strong enough in this body to throw it that far, so the beast landed just by the lab entrance.

As the thing was trying to get up, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki threw the kunai with the **ura shoshou** seal to its head, and activated the array just as soon as the throwing blade touched the hide of the beast. A black sphere appeared, covering most of the abomination, and then it collapsed onto itself, sealing everything that was in it away. Permanently. Then Akasha speared what was remaining of the beast with a rail and threw it into the lava. Just in case, so it would not regenerate.

"**Damn, that thing was tough.**" The vampiress concluded. Naruto nodded in agreement. "**Let's hope we don't have to face any more of these things.**" The blond shinobi nodded again, before turning around and heading back into the laboratory: he still needed to investigate what was going on here...

* * *

As it turned out, someone was trying to create the ultimate summoning animal here. And they almost succeeded, as their creation was really a tough thing to kill – he had just battled it, and it was possibly the hardest fight in ages – but it was uncontrollable... Another interesting thing, while there were lots of data on how the beast was created, Naruto couldn't find single word about who was funding this research: that shinobi, when mentioned, was always called just 'he' or 'the client'.

After some thinking, the blond shinobi had decided that leaving the research notes was too dangerous, so he collected them all, sealed into the scroll and threw into lava. Then, using remaining explosive tags (most of them being the overpowered ones, filled with Kyuubi's yoki instead of just human chakra), he mined the laboratory and set a one hour timer.

"Let's go." He said to Akasha once he was done with the preparations. She just nodded and the two of them let the laboratory. Once they were out of the volcano, there was a surprise waiting for them: the local 'fauna' came out of the forest, and the various summoning animals seemed to be ...grateful? Well, from the notes he had seen, Naruto knew that some of these animals were fed to _that abomination_ to let it absorb their abilities, so it was possible that now the summons were grateful to them for offing _that beast_... A huge bird offered hi and Akasha its back, and, after some seconds of hesitation, the two climbed here. The bird then took off and headed towards the nearest human settlement it knew, while the rest of the summoning animals were returning to their territories on the island...

Naruto and Akasha, who still hadn't dispelled herself, were quite some distance away from the island, when the explosive tags left behind went off in a large explosion that almost destroyed a side of the volcano... Just from how big it was, it was safe to say that the lab was destroyed completely. Good, as no one needed another such abomination let loose on the world...

**~/ *** \~**

Eleven days later Naruto was back in Kiri and reporting the results of his mission to Mei, who, for some reason, seemed to be unusually nervous around him... Oh well, it was not like he could just understand what was going on in her head - if this was important and she wanted to share it, she'll tell him.

"...And so that I what had happened." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki finished his oral report. "I write the detailed version sometime later today." Mei nodded. She seemed to want to say something, but as she hadn't even opened her mouth, yet, the blond shinobi decided that he had his right to ask a question of his own: "What about Zabuza? When I left for this mission, he was walking around the village, ...studying it." The redhead froze for a moment as, apparently, Naruto's question caught her off guard, but she quickly recomposed herself.

"He came to a conclusion that the situation in Kiri is 'satisfactory', so he and his apprentice will stay. I put them both on three months probation with Haku Yuki being given the rank of chuunin... Zabuza will also rejoin the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū once his probation is over." The red-eyed swordsman nodded.

"And what about the chuunin exams? I remember you organizing a couple of teams to send there." He asked then, just out of curiosity. Mei once again seemed to be thinking about something else entirely, but she still gave her answer quickly:

"They've successfully passed the first test which was information gathering and mental stability and determination, and are going through the survival test right now. But it appears that elder Tokawa was right: the jounin I sent report that Konoha suddenly tightened the security a couple of hours after the second test began. There also rumors about Orochimaru being seen in the village." She said. Naruto nodded. Deciding that he was satisfied with that information for now, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki now wanted to know what was wrong with his hime. Of course, he knew that asking her directly might not yield him the desired answers, but he still tried.

"Something wrong, Mei-chan?" The response he got was not something he expected: the redhead made a sign telling the hidden ANBU in her office to leave. And once they were out, she activated the privacy seals – yep, whatever was bothering her was really important.

"Naruto-kun..." She looked downwards and to the side. "We're are going to be parents." It took Naruto a couple of seconds to process what she said.

"What?" Was all that he managed to say. Somehow, though, the redhead wasn't offended by this – then again, what she else could have expected from dropping such a bombshell on him? – and elaborated instead.

"I'm pregnant, Naru-chan. On the fourth week..." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki just started at her for long seconds. Then he somehow got around the table before she could see that, appearing behind her, and hugged her.

"Isn't that great? We always wanted a family, Mei-chan." He said, making the red-haired Kage relax a bit.

"Yes, that's great." She agreed. "But... We need to marry if we want the best future for our child. And for that we need to both be a part of the village officially." By the documents Naruto was still a ronin, and, thus, not eligible for any kunoichi of Kiri, even for the Mizukage herself, to marry.

"For you, Mei-chan... I will do anything." Yes, the blond swordsman was still not over his dislike for the Hidden villages that he got after that incident in Konoha over seven years ago, but for his hime he indeed was ready to put the shackles of being a part of the village back on.

"Thank you." The redhead whispered, before turning her head around to give him a kiss. "But... You are the special case, so I myself am not enough to enter you into the village. You'll have to get the approval of the elders too." Naruto nodded: while he himself had yet to have a pleasure of speaking with them, he knew a lot of things, most of them not exactly pleasant, about them. "I'll try to organize a meeting with them for you as soon as possible, but... It will take some time. And you can't tell them the real reason of why you're joining the village – no one but us and, maybe, Kagerou-chan, should know about my pregnancy for now." The red-eyed swordsman nodded.

"Of course, Mei-chan." She nodded and released the privacy seals.

"We will talk about this more at home." He nodded again, before giving his hime one more kiss.

**~/ *** \~**

Elders didn't even bother Naruto with their examination too much. Maybe it was the fact that he was an S-rank ninja and a jinchuuriki of the strongest of current bijuu that helped him much. Or maybe it was the fact that he had a clean history as he had never worked for another village and was among those who brought Yagura's reign to end.

Anyway, it was surprisingly easy for the red-eyed swordsman to get the elder's approval. So just a week after this all began, Mei had already all of the needed documents approved and filed into archives... The ceremony of Naruto becoming the elite jounin of the Kirigakure no Sato was a private one and more symbolic than anything: everybody in the village already knew that he was working for Kiri anyway. He didn't even have to go through the probation (this irritated Zabuza to no end, but there was nothing he could do about that)...

And since the blond shinobi wasn't forced to go through probation, Naruto and Mei played their wedding almost as soon as he became the official ninja of the Hidden Mist village. The wedding too was a private one, though, thanks to the rumor mill, a week later everyone in Kiri knew that their Mizukage was no longer single. Of course, people were speculating about the reasons for this marriage, those that had guessed the truth weren't believed in much – which suited the pair just fine.

* * *

Soon, though, the village had another thing to talk about: the teams sent to Konoha for chuunin exams had returned, both having failed the second test. One of the teams could find the second scroll they needed to pass the test in time, while the the other lost two of its members in a run-in with a Suna team that had an unstable jinchuuriki among them.

And since there were more rumors about Orochimaru lurking in the dark corners of the Hidden Leaf village, it looked like elder Tokawa was right, and something was going on there. Something that Kiri didn't want to be a part of. Like a war or whatever the snake sannin had in plans for Konoha.

**~/ *** \~**

It was about a week before the finals of the chuunin exams in Konoha, when a delegation from Kumo (the Hidden Cloud was not participation, due to the tension between the villages), consisting of the Raikage himself, Mabui, Kiraabi and a group of jounin Naruto didn't knew arrived to Kiri to finalize the alliance.

Naruto himself, along with the five of the acting Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū and Zabuza, were meeting the Kumo delegation at the village gates. Kiraabi, being his usual self, though, didn't let the official atmosphere last, as he approached his fellow jinchuuriki with his customary greeting, that the red-eyed swordsman surely returned... While Raikage was busy scolding his brother for inappropriate behavior, Mabui gave Naruto a friendly hug (this will cause some of the members of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū to tease their unofficial leader quite a bit later on, while not listening to him telling that they were a distant cousins).

Eventually, the order was restored, and the procession headed towards the Mizukage's palace. When they got there, one of the chuunin gave Naruto a small scroll, which the blond immediately opened and read.

"Mizukage-sama is going to see you now in the banquet hall." He said then. Everyone nodded, before following the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū into the palace.

"Let's see, what Terumi-dono has in store for us." Mabui, who was walking next to Naruto, said. 'The Genocide' smiled, before correcting her:

"That would be Uzumaki now." The white-haired kunoichi raised her eyebrow, silently asking him to elaborate, even if she had a pretty good idea of what had happened. "We are married now."

"Congratulations then, Naruto-kun." Mabui said. "I'm sure you are an excellent pair." Naruto was about to reply something, but Choujioru chose this moment to announce that they had reached the banquet hall.

Inside, all tables but two were temporary removed. The one of the two tables remaining was in the center of the room with two ornate armchairs across from each other. Mei was standing next to one of these, while the other was reserved for the Raikage... The other table was for the four elders of Kirigakure no Sato as they were too old to stand through the ceremony.

Naruto took his place behind his wife, while Mabui and Kiraabi were standing behind A, who took his seat. The Kumo jounin and the members of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū were standing by the walls behind their village's leaders.

'_Let the negotiations begin._' The Kyuubi jinchuuriki thought. And a second later Mei-chan began her speech...

* * *

That's all, folks!  
**Read** and **Review**!

To everyone wondering, there **will** be a sequel to this story. But not just yet.  
In the late spring 2012 most likely, so wait patiently for it to come.

Also, while I'm collecting the inspiration for the sequel for the "_**Ronin**_", I'm announcing another story that I will publish in the meantime.  
It will be a "_**Naruto**_"/"_**Freezing**_" crossover. The title is finalized as "_**Antifreeze fox**_". First chapter will be published just after the New Year.


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